Avatar: after the war ends
by uanime5
Summary: This story is set 1 year and 2 months after Zuko has become Fire Lord and the war has ended. It deals with the problems of fixing 100 years of war.
1. Prologue

**Avatar: after the war ends**

**Prologue: Zuko's Lament**

When I came to the throne I promised change and that the Fire Nation would help restore balance to the world. So far I have failed to do this. Though I was able to end the war I have not yet been able to repair the damage done to the Earth Kingdom. There are three main reasons for this.

The first is that many Earth Kingdom citizens cannot return to their homes because there is nowhere left to return to. The reasons why the Fire Nation burned Earth Kingdom towns and cities to the ground are many but it was mainly done to; quell resistance, weaken the Earth Kingdom, as a show of force, and sometimes just for fun. However the end result was always the same, a pile of ashes and a lot of refugees. My efforts to rebuild Earth Kingdom towns and cities have been hampered by both the nobility and Fire Nation citizens who don't want their taxes spent on the Earth Kingdom. Many consider ending the war payment enough.

The second is the Colonies scattered all over the Western Earth Kingdom. While I was able to remove my soldiers from the Earth Kingdom territories with little objection, I encountered great resistance when I tried to withdraw from the Colonies. Those living in the Colonies consider themselves to be Fire Nation citizens and many in the Fire Nation feel the same way. So when I first tried to return these areas to the Earth Kingdom there was a great deal of protest with some Officers and soldiers who lived in the Colonies or who had family members living there, with many threatening to defend the Colonies from the Earth Kingdom to the last person. While the Earth Kingdom might not object if the Colonies were a few small towns built by the Fire Nation they are often former Earth Kingdom towns and cities; along with Fire Nation fortresses, military facilities, smelting plants, and mines. At present much of the Fire Nation army is still in the Earth Kingdom to defend the Colonies and to deal with the third problem; Azula.

After I defeated Azula and became Fire Lord she was sent to a Fire Nation Mental Health Facility on a small island. There she received treatment for two months. Though her doctor said that she was making good progress and was starting to talk about her feelings towards her friends, this turned out to be just an act as she suddenly escaped. After her escape everything started going wrong. She went to the Colonies and started stirring up trouble by claiming that I was going to abandon the Colonies the same way I had "abandoned" the Earth Kingdom territories. By playing on the fear of the colonists she was able to gather not only the support of ordinary people but the support of many of the soldiers, Officers, and Governors living in the colonies. From her propaganda its clear that she's trying to gather enough support to start a civil war and become Fire Lord to "restore the Fire Nation to it's former glory".

Though she hasn't been effective at getting support among the average Fire Nation citizen it's unclear how many of the nobility support her. However her level of support in the Colonies is only too clear. There have been many raids on remaining Earth Kingdom towns in the Western Earth Kingdom in an effort to remove any Earth Kingdom presence. Though these attacks are normally carried out by colonialists, some are supported or even carried out by Fire Nation soldiers. I don't know how Azula has been organising these raids but whatever method she's using leaves behind little evidence. Since the raids are becoming more common this has encouraged many young colonialists to join Azula and attack the Earth Kingdom, rather than seek peace with them. There are even rumours that she has managed to convince some former Dai Lee agents to join her and oppose the Earth Kingdom.

The way she's funding her army is just as bad. Since some Fire Nation soldiers and Officials are under her control she can have them embezzle all the funds she needs. For a price smugglers and other criminals can operate with virtual immunity from the law. Again it's unclear how Azula is organising this and collecting the money but the effects are very clear. Taxes cannot be used to improve cities, criminal gangs operate in the Western Earth Kingdom unchallenged; Earth Kingdom civilians are abducted and sold as slaves; and the 'Poppy Tea' is freely produced in the Colonies and sold all over the Earth Kingdom.

The problems that Azula is causing in the Colonies and the Earth Kingdom has lead to a constant threat of invasion by the Earth Kingdom army (which has only benefited Azula by making the colonists more willing to seek her protection). Though Aang was able to convince the Earth Kingdom generals to let me handle this I could tell he was concerned about whether I would be able to deal with Azula. When my decree calling for Azula to surrender her failed I hired Jun to use her Shirshu to sniff her out. However Azula evaded detection by masking her scent, so put a large bounty on her, hoping that someone would sell her out. So far this has not worked and the as the situation deteriorates the Earth Kingdom is running out of patience.

Given that it has now been a year since Azula escaped, the problems she's causing are always increasing, and the lack of progress made so far I've decided to take action by forming a group to hunt down Azula and break her control over the Colonies. Though Aang and Katara are actively searching for Azula and trying to fix the destruction she caused they're too well known to be able to infiltrate her followers; the same is true of me. Though there are many in the Fire Nation that could carry out this task there is no one I can completely trust with it, since I'm unable to determine who supports me and who supports Azula. Fortunately I know of a group that could carry out this mission, yet would not betray me to Azula; the Kyoshi Warriors. I've sent a message Hawk to Suki and Sokka explaining this and I'm currently awaiting their response.

Notes:

1) Since many Jews put in concentration camps during World War Two had nowhere to return to after 5-10 years (many remained in Displaced Persons Camps until 1953) it's not unreasonable for the displaced Earth Kingdom people to have nowhere to return to after 100 years of war. Though I would like to point out that the German Government did give compensation to direct survivors of the Holocaust.

2) Governor (governs a city), Officer (military commander, such as General), Soldiers (serves officer).

3) The Dai Lee have been disbanded, though many have been retrained as guards in Ba Sing Se. Not all Dai Lee like their loss of status and having to change their Earth Bending style, so they joined Azula's cause in the hope of regaining their former glory.

4) 'PoppyTea' is a tea that contains ground opium poppies; though its weaker than smoked opium, Morphine, and Heroin. Its effects are: reduces pain, causes drowsiness, and produces feelings of euphoria and relaxation.

Early withdrawal symptoms are: insomnia, dysphoria (sadness, anxiety, irritability, or restlessness), and sweating. Late Withdrawal symptoms are: restlessness, irritability, loss of appetite, body aches, severe abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, tremors, problems sleeping, and even stronger and more intense drug. They occur usually between 6–12 hours after the last administration, with Major withdrawal symptoms peaking between 48 and 96 hours after the last dose and subsiding after about 8 to 12 days (physical symptoms only). Gradually reducing the amount of opium you take reduces the withdrawal symptoms.

Psychological withdrawal symptoms are severe depression, anxiety, insomnia, mood swings, amnesia (forgetfulness), low self-esteem, confusion, paranoia, and other psychological disorders. There is a high probability that relapse will occur after opium withdrawal when neither the physical environment nor the behavioural motivators that contributed to the abuse have been altered. Abusers of morphine and heroin (both opium and heroin contain morphine) have one of the highest relapse rates among all drug users.

5) In the past many rulers preferred to use foreign mercenaries rather than their own soldiers because they were better trained and often very loyal (as long as they were paid).


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Kyoshis in the Colonies

**Chapter 1: Kyoshis in the Colonies**

"Okay we're here in the Fire Nation Colonies."

"I'm just glad to be off that boat" quipped Toph, she really hated sailing.

"Now all we need to do is find Azula, expose her corrupt Fire Nation Governors, and destroy her smuggling rings."

"How are you planning to do that?" asked Suki.

To be honest I had no idea. Personally I was surprised that Zuko wanted us to help find and stop Azula but when he explained that anyone in the Fire Nation could be one of her supporters I kinda understood. Anyway he asked Suki and me to get a team of the Kyoshi Warriors together to help. Toph, who'd been staying here on Kyoshi Island, eagerly agreed as she'd been bored since our last mission (though she didn't want to go off and have an adventure on her own). Unfortunately most of the Kyoshi Warriors didn't want to go to a war zone to hunt for an insane fire bender. However Ty Lee volunteered saying that we needed to stop Azula.

After that we packed our belongings and took a boat to the mainland (passenger boats from the Earth Kingdom to the Fire Nation are very rare), then waited for Aang, Katara, Appa, and Momo to arrive and take us to Ember Island (we used Zuko's beach house as a meeting point). On the way Katara explained how she and Aang had been travelling around the Western Earth Kingdom trying to resolve the problems. She told us that the problems were worse in the Southern areas because it was mainly made up of small areas of Fire Nation Colonies, Earth Kingdom towns, and land no one was currently using but that each side wanted to be theirs; rather than the Northern areas which was mostly Fire Nation, with a small Earth Kingdom region. She also explained that they were having trouble find those responsible in the south because they would attack Earth Kingdom towns and then retreat, so unless Aang was able to catch them attacking a town they couldn't find who'd attacked it. I could tell that this annoyed both of them, a lot.

We arrived at the beach house late in the evening. Shortly after arriving Aang left to get Zuko, along with some things we'd need for the mission. While he was gone we made something to eat (Zuko kept lots of food here, even meat). Once Aang return with Zuko, Zuko got straight into explaining what the problem was. Basically Azula had made contacts with the Nation Officers and Governors, and was trying to gather enough support to start a civil war while destroying the Earth Kingdom. Next Zuko explained our role. While Aang was trying to keep things calm in the South we'd head to the Fire Nation part of the Northern area to look for Azula and her smugglers. Zuko though she'd be in the North because it was more firmly under Fire Nation control, making it easier for corrupt Governors to hide her. We were also to investigate which Governors and Officers supported her, how she was co-ordinating attacks on the Earth Kingdom, how large her army was, and how she was financing this army. However Zuko made it clear that we were not to fight Azula unless she we had no choice because 1) she'd be well defended, 2) she could Fire bend and use lighting, 3) she was insane and very dangerous. Though we could destroy any smuggling ring we found (this made Toph happy).

After that we just talked about what we'd been doing. Though it was clear from the depressed moods of Aang, Katara, and Zuko that the whole situation was taking a heavy toll on them. So we all promised them we'd stop Azula together. After that Zuko gave us some money and Fire Nation clothes (anyone who didn't look Fire Nation was likely to be attacked). He also gave us a Messenger Hawk called Xiaohong that had trained to find Aang, so that we could contact him when we found Azula (the way he squawked reminded me of Hawky). Though Xiaohong couldn't find us, so we had to tell Aang which town to send it to.

Afterwards Aang took Zuko back to the Palace and the rest of us spent the night in Zuko's Beach House. Aang and Katara left early next morning because they'd be spending most of the day flying on Appa. Since we were going in disguise we couldn't be seen riding Appa, so we were taking a boat. The only boat from Ember Island to the Colonies (a former Earth Kingdom city now called Dairen) didn't leave until the afternoon, so we just waited.

While on the boat Toph, Suki, Ty Lee, and me discussed what we should do. Toph wanted to find one of Azula's strongholds and attacks it, while Ty Lee wanted to try to convince Azula to surrender. Suki was more rational (that's why I love her), suggesting that we try to gather information from the smugglers about which Governors were corrupt, then force the Governors to tell us what they knew about Azula. Once we had all the information we needed Aang and Zuko could bring Azula down and her corrupt Governors down.

But the main problem was how to find the smugglers. In our previous mission in the Southern Earth Kingdom we'd been told who some of the smugglers were and had been able to tail them (using Toph's feet) to find their bases. This time we only had some Fire Nation reports but Zuko had said that there was no way to tell how accurate they were. After much debate we decided to try to find the black market and look for smugglers there.

However what had seemed a good idea on the boat was difficult to put into effect since we didn't know where the black market was. In the end we decided to go to an inn and rent some rooms and discuss our plan in private. Now we're all in the room Suki and I'm sharing. I said "Okay we're here in the Fire Nation Colonies", Toph quipped "I'm just glad to be off that boat" and I continued … wait there's no point in reminiscing over what just happened.

Given that Suki, Toph, and Ty Lee were all looking at me for answers I decided to take charge.

"First we need to find the black market. Let's split up and ask around the city where we can find a market that sells 'special items'. We'll meet back here in an hour to report what we've found."

"So we're just walking around, talking to people" Toph said in a bored manner.

"Sokka, what special items do we want" asked Ty Lee, she looked confused.

"Illegal ones" I replied.

We then set off to gather information; Suki, Xiaohong, and me in one team; Toph and Ty Lee in the other.

Notes:

Since Suki didn't do much in the series I don't know how to represent her character, other than Sokka's girlfriend.

Xiaohong: means 'little red/reddy' and is a common name for a bird in China, roughly equivalent to Polly.

Dairen is based on Dalian, China's northernmost ice-free port city.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Into the Forest

**Chapter 2: Into the Forest**

Over three months have past since we came to Dairen and we've made some progress. After we found the black market, we were able to join a gang of smugglers (Toph's ability to make statues out of stone helped convince them we had connections to other smugglers, so they asked us to join them). Lai (the boss of our gang) and some other smugglers provided us with a lot of information about the city and taught us the proper slang.

Firstly the Governor of Dairen, Jiating, had introduced a tax 6 months ago to "protect" the citizens of Dairen from Earth Kingdom assaults. Given that the nearest Earth Kingdom town was over 50 miles away this tax was obviously unnecessary. However this tax would be a good way for Azula to raise money for her army, so we decided to investigate how the money was spent. Unfortunately determining how any of the taxes were spent was difficult due to the widespread corruption and manipulation of almost all the records (some of the "friends" of the smugglers who worked in Government told us how corrupt it was). Though we did learn that Jiating often made large purchases, so we decided to investigate these to see what he was purchasing. Again we met with disappointment because he was just spending money on banquets, silk clothes, and furnishings for his house (none of which would benefit an army). Though we did investigate the companies that provided the food, clothes, and furnishings in case they were sham companies set up to funnel money to Azula, however they seemed legit (though they did send some products by sea it would be too difficult to check all of their sea trade to see where it was going). If Jiating was secretly sending money to Azula through sham companies he was hiding it well (though Azula would need a lot of administrators to coordinate these companies).

Secondly Poppy Tea was seen as an Earth Kingdom drink, so it was very unpopular in Colonies (meaning that there was a very small market for opium). According to the smugglers if anyone who wanted to purchase opium it was usually to sell somewhere else. It seemed that if we wanted to find opium dealers we'd have to travel further south. Our remoteness from anywhere Earth Kingdom also meant that Earth Kingdom slaves were rare as well.

Thirdly there was no point in reporting smugglers to the Fire Nation soldiers because most of them could be bribed. Some even charged the smugglers protection money (those who didn't pay would often be framed for a crime and then executed).

Fortunately we did learn some useful things. Firstly one of the "sailors", who provided us with "merchandise" told us that Azula had been holding rallies in the Yunnan provinces in the south to gain support and funding. We sent this information to Aang as soon as we could using Xiaohong. We also told Aang to send Xiaohong back to Dairen. Secondly we learned about the Fort.

One of our "clients" wanted some valuable Earth Kingdom scrolls, so he hired Lai to collect them. Our job was to go into the forest and meet with our contact who'd bring the first scroll to us. When I asked Lai why we had to go into the forest I was told that we were getting "merchandise" from the Fort. I tried to get more information from Lai but neither he, nor anyone else, knew much about the Fort; other than they specialised in Earth Kingdom "merchandise", their "contacts" were always Fire Nation soldiers who rode Mongoose Dragons, and they all smelt of incense. This all sounded very suspicious, especially since Komodo Rhinos the preferred transport among Fire Nation soldiers.

I made sure Toph accompanied us when we went to collect the scrolls because I wanted her to use her feet to determine where our "contact" came from. Though we reached our meeting point in the early afternoon it took over an hour for our contact to arrive. Like Lai said he was a Fire Nation soldier (one with the skull mask, not the type you'd find in a town) riding a Mongoose Dragon and he did smell faintly of incense. Lai traded with the soldier, we were just stood around to protect the "merchandise" from bandits and rival smugglers. The exchange was short and our "contact" got ready to leave. Trying to gather what information I could I asked him if he'd had a long day, he replied that he's been travelling since dawn. He then left, travelling a different route. Toph was unable to follow him with her feet because he had his Mongoose Dragon run across a river (I guess they're using Mongoose Dragons to make it harder to track them). However if he'd only been travelling for about half a day this meant the Fort was near Dairen.

Since Lai's "client" wanted some other scrolls, but was only willing to pay for one until he could check their quality, a second meeting was set up. Again I volunteered for it and brought Toph along. This time I sent her and Suki further along to try and find the path the Fire Nation soldier took coming here (Ty Lee was no good at sneaking and hiding since she got distracted so easily, so she remained with me and Lai). After short time after our "contact" arrived (from his voice I could tell it was a different Fire Nation soldier), traded with Lai, and left Toph and Suki rejoined us. It seemed that he took a straight route coming here (probably because he didn't want to damage the "merchandise") but took a more complex route going back to prevent anyone following him. However since we knew the direction he travelled in, that he travelled about half a day, and how far a Mongoose Dragon could travel in that time I could determine the probable location of the Fort (though it was still a large area).

That evening I proposed we get some supplies, head into the forest, and search for the Fort, since we weren't making any progress in Dairen. Toph eagerly agreed (she was getting bored with following merchants, checking government records, making "deliveries", and "protecting" smugglers) but Suki and Ty Lee were more reluctant since find the Fort in such a large area would be difficult. Eventually we decided to look for the Fort in the forest but decided that if we found it we wouldn't attack it unless we were sure we could win.

The next morning we informed Lai that one of our "suppliers" had some special "merchandise" that he though we'd be interested in, so we'd be away for a while (it was a lie but in Dairen people often used this excuse before suddenly leaving). He seemed a little disappointed (we were very reliable) but he said he understood. When we mentioned we'd be travelling through the forest he even told us about a "friend" of his who would sell us supplies at a "special discount". Later we went to this friend and got a lot of Trail Mix and some noodle soup, some tents, rope, and cooking equipment. The "friend" also told us which berries were edible and warned us that there were Skunkbears in the forest.

After we got the equipment we needed I check in at the Post Office to see if Xiaohong had returned. Since he hadn't come back (what was keeping him) I couldn't tell Aang where we were going but I did send a message to Zuko explaining what we had found and where we were going (as Zuko asked us to do I wrote this message in code and addressed it to Mai in case Azula's spies were intercepting messages for Zuko).

That night we went to bed early and woke up early the next morning. Just before we left I check at the Post Office to see if Xiaohong had returned, but he still wasn't back. Despite not having Xiaohong we left Dairen and set off into the forest.

Notes:

Lai is based on Lai Changxing, a Chinese smuggler.

Jiating is based on Li Jiating a corrupt governor of Yunnan Province. His son (Li Bo) was also corrupt.

The Yunnan Province is a province in China.

Trail mix: a mix of nuts with raisins that provides good nutrition, protein, and is easy to eat. Since it can't go bad it's popular among backpackers. Though oatmeal and powdered soups are also popular they probably don't exist in the Avatar world.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The girl in the Fort

**Chapter 3: The girl in the Fort**

We spent two days travelling through the forest to where I thought the Fort was. We then spent a week searching the forest area nearby some mountains for the Fort, however we couldn't see the Fort and Toph's feet couldn't find anyone. Since our food was running low we decided to do one final search near where we first started and if we couldn't find anything we'd leave tomorrow. Fortunately we got a lucky break, Toph sensed someone near the mountains.

We quickly headed in their direction and soon found a teenager in Fire Nation clothes. He seemed very nervous and was always looking around before moving on. Since he didn't seem dangerous we decided to approach him in case he was a lost traveller. As soon as I called out to him he quickly ran away from us until Toph earthbended a wall to stop him. When we came near to him he seemed very frightened and blurted out.

"Please don't hurt me, I won't tell anyone about that girl."

None of us had any idea what he was talking about but I noticed that he smelled of incense. He was from the Fort! I could hardly contain my joy. If I handled this correctly we could learn where it was hidden. I decided to act friendly but firm towards him, so he'd be more willing to talk.

"We're looking for the Fort. If you tell us where it is we'll let you go."

I could have phrased that better. But he did answer.

"It's in the mountains in an old mine."

"Why is it in a mine?" I asked.

"The Captain said no one would look for a Fort in a mine."

He was right, we completely ignored the mountains and concentrated on looking in the forest. Hiding a fort in a mine was pretty clever. Now all we needed were directions.

"How do we get to the Fort?"

"You go that way," he pointed left towards the mountains, "the entrance is on the side facing the river."

I turned to Toph, "Is he telling the truth?"

"He is" she replied.

All right, we finally knew where the Fort was. It would be best to try to find it before it got dark.

"Let's go to the Fort."

"What about the girl?" asked Suki (I'd forgotten about that). "Also why were you so afraid of us."

"It's a long story," he said. He seemed to have calmed down now.

"Tell us," said Ty Lee.

"Yeah," said Toph.

"When soldiers from Fire Nation Defence Army came to my village to recruit volunteers to protect the Fire Nation I joined up. Since I'd spent a lot of my childhood playing in this forest I was assigned to the Fort. I acted as a Mapper, finding find routes for Runners to travel."

"What are 'Runners'?" I asked

"Runners are mounted soldiers who carry goods from the Fort to towns, and carry supplies to the Fort," he replied. "I had to plan the shortest route through the forest and a route back that was difficult to follow."

"What does any of this have to do with the girl or why you were afraid of us," Toph angrily said, she was getting bored.

"It all happened yesterday when Captain Bangzhi was conducting drills in the mountains. He'd forgotten to bring a map of the area, so he told me to go to his room (the one with the gold nameplate), in his quarters to retrieve it. I went into the mine and told the guard in front of his quarters that the Captain had forgotten his map and had sent me to get it. The guard let me inside the Captain's quarters and I sae it was divided into 4 rooms. I accidentally went into the wrong room and …"

"You're lying," Toph interrupted.

"Why do you think that," he asked, clearly surprised that Toph knew.

"I can sense when people are lying," she replied.

"It's true," I added (that sounded so lame). Suki and Ty Lee also agreed.

"Okay I lied," he confessed, "I wanted to see what the Captain had in his quarters so I decided to look in all the rooms. The first contained gold statutes, jewellery, and some other valuable stuff. However the second just contained a bed and a table with some cups on it. I thought that this was the Captain's room, even though it was so shabby, so I went in to look for the map. Since it wasn't on the table I decided to look under it. While I was down there I heard movement, then an angry girl's voice say 'guard where's my tea'. I looked up and saw an angry looking, skeletal girl in the bed. I was so frightened that I ran out of the room and all the way back to the Captain. When he shouted at me for forgetting the map I apologised and said I was scared by the girl in his quarters. He seemed really shocked that I knew about her and told me to follow him. We then headed towards an isolated area."

"Maybe she was his daughter," Ty Lee added. Judging by the sparkle in her eyes she was thinking of some strange romance story.

"I don't think so, since the Captain never mentioned having a family. Besides if she was his daughter he wouldn't keep her locked up in a mine and not tell anyone about it," he replied.

"Is the Captain a Snakehead," I asked.

"No, we're never dealt with anyone from the Earth Kingdom," he replied (what did he mean by 'from the Earth Kingdom').

"So what happened next?" asked Suki.

"When the Captain kept asking me about the girl and what she said I knew I'd seen something I shouldn't of. Fearing for my life I decided it was best to leave the Fort. When we were walking near to the forest I distracted the Captain by pointing in the other direction and saying 'There's the Avater' and ran for the forest. As I neared the forest the Captain started Firebending at me, though he missed me. Once in the forest I ran to a tall tree, climbed it, and hid. From there I could see most of the soldiers from the Fort looking for me. I waited until they'd returned to the Fort and it was dark, before I climbed down and ran into the forest."

I couldn't believe it, so many Fire Nation soldiers in the forest and we'd missed them because we were too far away.

"Why'd you hide in a tree, wouldn't it be faster to run?" Ty Lee asked, she looked confused.

"I'm not a fast runner, so I figured if I hid they'd eventually give up and I could escape," he replied.

Before he could continue the story I asked "Does the Captain normally hunt down anyone who tries to escape."

"No, the Captain normally isn't bothered if he loses a mapper, since he can use the existing routes until a new mapper is found. I once heard he ordered the Runners to find a thief but he only sent a few of them. When I saw so many people after me I knew the Captain was serious about catching me," he said.

"So what happened after you climbed down from the tree," Suki asked.

"I ran through the forest for hours. When I couldn't run any further I searched for some berries to eat and then went to sleep. I woke up the next morning, ate some more berries then continued travelling through the forest. When you jumped me I though you were soldiers the Captain had sent to find me."

Okay, so we'd gathered all the information we needed. But one thing still puzzled me, so I asked "Why does everyone from the Fort smell of incense?"

"We burn incense to keep Skunkbears away," he replied.

Since we didn't have any more questions for him we let him go. We he was out of sight we headed towards the mountains.

Notes:

Fire Nation Defence Army: a group of Fire Nation soldiers and Colonialists dedicated to protecting the Fire Nation Colonies from the Earth Kingdom (specifically preventing Zuko giving the Colonies to the Earth Kingdom). Their official leader is Azula but they also have Fire Nation Generals and Governors running the army. They also encourage and train Colonialist to attack Earth Kingdom towns.

Bangzhi is based on Wu Bangzhi, a former chief warden of Chuanxi Prison.

A Snakehead is the leader of a group of Chinese human smugglers (in China smuggled humans are called 'human snakes', so a head of the snakes or Snakehead would be their leader).


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Assault on the Fort

**Chapter 4: Assault on the Fort**

When we got to the mountains we had Toph search for the Fort, she found it almost immediately. According to Toph the Fort was in an old mine but it also connected to some caves, which the soldiers inside seemed to be used as living quarters. She then used her Earthbending to make a map of the Fort. The first thing we had to do was locate the Captain's quarters and rescue the girl. This was difficult to find since there were three rooms that were guarded, all at various places in the Fort. I decided to start with the one nearest to the entrance facing the river, since this was the entrance that … uh … wait did he ever tell us his name? Uh, the entrance the … mapper used to enter the Fort.

Since I was in charge of planning the attack I decided against a direct attack because the area leading to the river entrance was too open, so we'd be easy to spot and easier targets for Firebenders to hit. My plan involved Toph blocking off the entrances surrounding the Captain's quarters and trapping the guards using Earthbending, then she'd create a tunnel into the Fort. This would allow us to get in and out with minimal resistance. Though Toph wanted to fight more I reminded her that since we were rescuing a girl who might be injured, it would be better if there weren't fireballs flying all over the place. She seemed upset about this but agreed.

The plan began well, Toph was able to block out everyone but the guard, then she trapped him using her Earthbending. Toph was also able to get us in easily by Earthbending us a tunnel. When we got to the room outside the Captain's Quarters Suki tried to open the door, while I went to talk to the trapped guard.

"Where's the Captain," I asked.

"I don't know, he left this morning with most of the Runners," he replied, obviously afraid and confused about what was happening.

"Hey Sokka, come look at this," Suki said, from inside the Captain's quarters (guess it wasn't locked).

"Okay, I'll be there in a sec," I replied, I then turned to Toph, "Stay her and make sure no one gets in."

"No problem," Toph replied.

I then entered the Captain's quarters; Suki was inside holding a pot, though I couldn't see where Ty Lee was.

"What did you want me to see," I asked Suki.

"This," she replied, removing the lid from the pot and pushing it towards me. It was full of dark blue seeds, from their shape it was obvious what they were.

"These are poppy seeds," I exclaimed, "How many pots are there?"

"There's a cupboard full of them," Suki replied. We'd have to destroy them, however this wouldn't be easy since breaking the jars and stamping on the poppy seeds wouldn't work. But first we had another matter to take care of.

"Have you found the girl?"

"Not yet, the jars were behind the first door I opened and Ty Lee is in the Captain's room looking for something," Suki replied (so that's where Ty Lee was).

There were two doors left to choose from. I choose the one on the left and Suki choose the one on the right. When I opened the doors I saw lots of gold statutes and jewellery, along with some Earth Kingdom scrolls. I noticed some jewellery by the door that looked valuable and would be easy to carry. I decided to take it and show it to Lai as proof that we'd met with our "supplier". As I was picking these items up Suki called out.

"She's in here."

I went to the next room to see the girl. Ty Lee also came out of the Captains room and wanted to see the girl but the room wasn't big enough for three people, so she had to wait outside. I stood next to Suki and looked at the girl. She was on her side, lying on a bed, wearing a gown, and partially covered by a blanket. Her vacant eyes, huge grin, and skeletal figure reminded me of the opium addicts we'd seen on our last mission. They'd also all been thin, since they no longer cared about eating, only Poppy Tea; however she was much thinner.

I noticed there was an empty cup by her bed. I picked it up and took a small taste of the cold liquid in it. The bitter taste made me spit it out but I knew what it was; Poppy Tea, and a strong brew. I turned to Suki and said.

"She's an opium addict."

"I know," Suki sadly replied (addicts always made her sad).

"Did she say anything to you?"

"No, she's high right now so all she does is giggle."

I looked down at the girl. She had pale skin, gold eyes, and very long, unkempt black hair. Something about her seemed strangely familiar but I couldn't place where I'd seen her before. If we wanted to find out who this girl was we'd need to beat it out of the Captain. Since there was nothing more we could do Suki and I left the room. Ty Lee met us outside and told us that she couldn't find anything suspicious in the Captains room (what was she looking for?). She then went to see the girl. Suki and I would need to think up a plan to capture the Captain.

"Azula?" Ty Lee suddenly shouted.

Suki and I both turned towards the room with the girl in. Ty Lee was shaking her.

Azula, what happened to you? Azula," Ty Lee sounded really anxious now.

"Where's Azula?" said Toph, running into the Captain's quarters. She looked ready for a fight.

"Uh, I'm not sure," was all I could say.

"Are you sure it's Azula," Suki asked Ty Lee as she moved closer to her.

"Of course, I'd recognise her anywhere." Ty Lee confidently replied.

We all moved closer to Ty Lee and Azula (?). Suki went into the room with Ty Lee and stood in the doorway. Since I was blocking Toph's view I started to move to the side, then remembered that this wouldn't make much difference to Toph. I then remembers that I'd heard from a "sailor" that Azula was supposed to be rallying support in the south, however she looked barely alive. If Azula was here then who had we sent Aang and Katara after? A fake Azula! So the fake had the real Azula locked up here? No, the Fire Nations generals would know she was a fake, unless they'd hired her … oh no.

"We need to get out of here now."

"Why Sokka?" asked Suki, "Shouldn't we wait for the Captain?"

"If this is the real Azula then someone wants her kept here while they use a fake Azula. If they think that she's been discovered they'll try to move her."

"So what," said Toph, "When they show up, we'll beat them."

"They'll want a large guard to protect her because they need to keep her hidden. The Captain probably left to get reinforcements."

Suki, Ty Lee, and Toph all realised what this meant. Soldiers from the Fire Nation Army and possibly Dai Lee would be here soon. Fighting them would be very difficult and without Appa we couldn't easily escape. We'd have to put as much distance between them and us as we could. I gave the order.

"Grab Azula, let's get out of here now."

"She's only wearing a gown, we should at least get her some clothes," said Ty Lee.

"I'll get something from the Captain's room, Suki you help Ty Lee carry Azula out of here."

"Okay," Suki replied.

I ran to the Captain's room and started to look for clothes for Azula. This wasn't too difficult since Ty Lee seemed to of thrown the contents of every draw and wardrobe on the floor. I was able to find a top, jacket, trouser, and some spare shoes. I was unsure what to do about underwear since Azula probably wouldn't want to wear a guy's underwear but she probably wouldn't like not having any underwear either. So I got her some underwear, so that she'd have the choice.

I ran out of the Captain's room and out of his quarters. Toph was standing by the tunnel but when she saw me she ran into it. After I got inside the tunnel Toph collapsed the entrance, then we ran through the tunnel. At the other end Ty Lee and Suki were holding the giggling Azula over their shoulders (her hair was really long). Once we were out Toph destroyed the tunnel so we couldn't be followed.

"Where to now," Suki asked.

"Let's head back to Dairen and try to get a boat back to the Fire Nation," I replied.

We then set off towards Dairen as fast as we could, all the time I was thinking about the full impact of this discovery.

Notes:

The Captain's quarters contains a small hallway, three rooms, and one cupboard. There are no locks because the doors were not good enough quality to support strong locks. So the Captain's quarters are guarded at all times.

Technically Poppy Tea is made with poppy seeds and seed pods, while opium is made with the whole poppy. However Sokka is not aware of this difference, which is why he uses Poppy Tea and opium interchangeably.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Conspiracy revealed Chapter 5: Conspiracy revealed 

We ran through the forest as fast as we could with Azula. However after a short distance Ty Lee started to become tired (Azula was light but not weightless). So either we had to stop and rest, or I had to switch with her. Given that we needed to get away quickly I offered to switch with her. Ty Lee wasn't happy with the idea (she didn't think Azula would want a guy touching her) but eventually gave in. So we stopped, Ty Lee let go of Azula, I gave the clothes I was carrying to Toph (since she was too short to carry Azula, so she might as well carry something), I put my arm around Azula's shoulder (she felt all bony), and we set off. As we were carrying her Suki asked me why Azula was in the Fort, I replied that I was still thinking that through.

Eventually Suki became tired and Ty Lee swapped with her. Then I swapped with Suki when I became tired. This continued until it got dark, when we decided to camp for the night (during this time Azula stopped giggling and fell asleep). We put Azula down and covered her in a blanket, set up camp near a river so we'd have fresh water to drink, then all gathered round.

"So Sokka, why was Azula there?" asked Suki.

"I'm not sure but I have a theory," I replied. "Someone wanted Azula's help, so they infiltrated the Asylum she was sent to and convince her to join them. They then helped her escape."

"How do you know she didn't escape on her own?" Toph asked.

"I asked Zuko about how she escaped and he said that she faked a stomach ache and was transferred to the hospital wing. There she attacked a guard, stole her uniform, and walked out of the Asylum. Since there were no ships she could have escaped on and there was no evidence that she built a boat Azula must have had help getting off the island."

"Does Zuko have any ideas about who helped her?" asked Suki.

"He thinks it was the captain of a small boat acting on the orders of their superior but he doesn't know who. He also said that Azula's Asylum room didn't contain any clues as to where she went, though there was a partially burned doll that no one could explain.

"So Azula got on a boat and headed to the Colonies. Later she gets betrayed, becomes hooked on Poppy Tea, and is hidden in a mine," I concluded.

"So we really don't know anything about how she got here," Toph summarised.

"Uh … yeah. But finding out Azula's not in charge is important. It totally changes what Zuko has to do to fix the Fire Nations problems."

"How do you mean?" asked Suki.

"Since Zuko always assumed that Azula was involved whenever anything went wrong he was always willing to overlook anything anyone did in case they could lead him to Azula. But if Azula isn't involved Zuko has to stop looking and start acting."

"Meaning what?" asked Toph, she sounded bored.

Okay I could have explained that better. I decided that it would be easier to explain if I used an example.

"Zuko rarely ever punishes generals or governors when they're disobedient or corrupt in case Azula becomes greedy and make a mistake. So even though he knows Jiating is corrupt he won't punish him because Zuko wants to follow where the money is going in case it leads to Azula. But now that we know Azula isn't getting any money from Jiating Zuko needs to punish him for embezzlement."

"Hey Sokka, do you think that Jiating kidnapped Azula to hide his embezzlement?" Ty Lee asked.

I had thought of this as a possibility but I had discounted it. I decided to explain why.

"It's unlikely that Jiating would 'kidnap' Azula because it would be very risky and there are better ways to hide his corruption. If someone wanted Azula it would have to be for something only she could do."

"Which would be what?" asked Suki.

"Raise an army to overthrow Zuko."

I paused for a moment to let this sink in (it was worth planning the best way to explain my theory). I then continued.

"Though some generals oppose Zuko they can't overthrow him without being accused of trying to usurp the Fire Nation throne, which would cause the Fire Nation citizens to oppose them. But if they're acting on behalf of Azula, whose the only heir to the Fire Nation throne, they can start a civil war make Azula Fire Lord without alienating most of the Fire Nation."

"So why would they betray Azula?" asked Toph before anyone else could ask.

"There are two possible reasons. One: she's insane, so she'd be difficult to work with and they may have grown tired of her. Two: if they betray her they can rule the Fire Nation themselves."

"Which do you think it is?" asked Suki.

"Most likely the second. I think they planned to use Azula as a figurehead right from the start and never intended for her to be their leader."

"She's not their figurehead, she's their scapegoat," sobbed Ty Lee, this conversation seemed to be upsetting her.

I decided to switch topics.

"Anyway we need to get Azula back to the Fire Nation. Then Zuko can expose the whole conspiracy."

"Why not just hand her over to the Fire Nation in Dairen?" said Toph, as if we were forgetting something obvious.

"We can't, she hasn't done anything wrong," sobbed Ty Lee, she still sounded upset.

"Dairen's too corrupt, we don't know where she's end up. Besides someone wants Azula to remain hidden so they'll probably hunt down anyone who knows about her. Since we don't know who we can trust we need to keep her hidden until we get her to Zuko."

However keeping Azula hidden would not be easy. Not only was there a large reward for her capture but Zuko had put up a lot of wanted posters so most people knew what she looked like. These posters also mentioned she had blue fire, meaning that it anyone saw her Firebending they'd recognizes her immediately. Her insanity would also make hiding her much more difficult, especially if she acted erratically.

"She's moving," Toph suddenly said.

We turned towards Azula (we were all sitting behind her). She was reaching around in front of herself for something. She soon stopped, pushed herself up, pushed her hair out of the way of her eyes, and said:

"Guard bring me some tea."

Then she stared into the distance (she didn't seem to realise she wasn't in the Fort anymore). She then started looking around and said:

"Guard, why are there trees in my room."

She must still be high. She started to sit up more but didn't look behind herself.

"Uh Azula, we took you out of your room," Ty Lee said.

Even though we could only see Azula's back it was obvious that she was shocked when she heard Ty Lee's voice. She quickly turned round.

"Ty Lee!? How did you get into my room?" Azula half asked, half shouted.

"You're not in your room anymore Princess," Toph replied dryly.

Azula stared at us, quickly looked round, then seemed to finally realise she's been moved.

"Take me back to my room right now," Azula demanded.

Huh? Why'd she want to go back there? She must be crazier than we thought.

"Azula we're going to take you home, back to Zuko," Ty Lee said sweetly (probably hoping to calm down Azula).

"Never!" shouted Azula. She looked angry.

She then tried to stand up but failed and fell down. Though she was able to stand the second time she tried (she looked a little unsteady through). Looks like we'd have to fight Azula if we wanted to take her from a dirty room in a mine to the Fire Nation Palace (seriously what was she thinking).

Azula fired a small, blue fireball from her fingers. It flew towards us, over our heads, and into a nearby tree where it broke apart into sparks (he aim seemed off and her Firebending lacked any power). Azula also seemed to have trouble keeping her balance (she looked kind of pitiful). Toph then used her Earthbending to shake the ground and knock Azula down.

While Azula tried to get back on her feet we just looked at each other in disbelief. Though we had prepared in case we had to fight Azula none of us imagined it would be like this. Eventually she got back onto her feet looking even more angry than before.

"What did you do to my body!" Azula shouted.

"Azula we didn't do anything to you, you were like this we when found you," replied Ty Lee (I think she was trying to sound firm but it sounded like she was pleading with Azula).

Azula then shot a fire blast directly into the ground. My guess was that she planned to use it as a shield to cover her while she ran away. However in her weakened condition the fire blast was very small and only created a little dust cloud, and the speed she ran away at was pretty slow. Given that Azula wasn't in any fit condition to do anything I decided to try to reason with her, rather than have Ty Lee paralyse her or have Toph trap Azula using her Earthbending.

"Where are you running to? You're in the middle of a forest."

This worked and Azula stopped. She considered this for a moment, then turned to face me. I could see the hatred brimming in her eyes.

"This doesn't mean you've won," Azula declared as she slowly walked towards us. She still sounded angry.

Okay, so she still has some ability to reason. However this isn't much comfort given that we still have to travel through a forest and to the Fire Nation with an insane, opium addicted Firebender who's the most wanted person in the Fire Nation colonies. This is going to be very hard.

Notes:

The only know members of the Fire Nation Royal Family are Iroh, Ozai, Zuko, and Azula. Since Iroh has said he doesn't want the throne (and he's very old) and Ozai was overthrown (he also lost his Firebending) the only other person who could replace the heirless Zuko is Azula (making her the current heir). Mai and Ursa cannot be the next Fire Lord because they're not descendents of the Fire Nation Royal family.

They have the real Azula. The proof is her blue Firebending and that she was able to recognise Ty Lee after hearing her voice.

How Azula ended up in the mine and why she wants to go back will be explained in later chapters.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Return to Dairen

**Chapter 6: Return to Dairen**

Though I'd managed to convince Azula to stay with us, dealing with her would be more difficult. Since she was wearing a gown and smelled like sweat, incense, and opium the first task was to convince her to wash and get changed. This started with Suki and Ty Lee trying to convince her and ended with Toph Earthbending her into the nearby river. Azula then threw fireballs at Toph but she Earthbended a wall to protect herself from the one fireball that actually came near her. This seemed to upset Azula a lot and she looked like she might start crying. Ty Lee went over and offered to help Azula up but this only seemed to annoy her. Ty Lee then said that Azula could use her tent to dry off and change. Azula stormed into the tent dripping wet (we decided to leave her alone).

Since Azula would now have to change anyway I showed Ty Lee and Suki the Captain's clothes. Both complained that they were too big (the Captain seemed to be taller and much wider than Azula). I pointed out that since the Captain was a man he only had men's clothes. They especially complained about me bringing his underwear since Azula would never wear it and I replied that if he had girl's underwear Azula would be even less likely to wear it (seriously what sort of man has girl's underwear?). Ty Lee then went in to convince Azula to change, while Suki was nearby to help (the tent wasn't big enough for all three of them). I stayed outside with Toph, since I was a man and Toph was blind (she couldn't tell how clothes looked on people). Judging by all the shouting coming from Azula we were the lucky ones (I hope she doesn't burn down the tent).

Eventually they emerged. Suki looked exhausted and Ty Lee looked upset. Azula was wearing the Captain's clothes with a rope tied around her unhealthily slim waist to hold them in place (the clothes looked shorter, so either Ty Lee or Suki must have cut them). The boots Azula was wearing looked too big for her (when I asked Suki about them she said she'd padded them with scraps of material from the Captain's clothes). Azula's hair was also shorter but it wasn't neatly cut (Ty Lee or Suki probably used a knife). I didn't know whether Azula had borrowed some underwear, was wearing the Captain's, or wasn't wearing any and I didn't really want to find out. The look on Azula's face suggested that she was in no mood to talk, so we decided that we should eat first (hopefully food would put Azula in a better mood).

Though we didn't need a fire to cook, since it was getting cold we'd need one for warmth. As we'd gotten the wood all ready when we set up camp we just needed to light it. Ty Lee asked Azula to light it and she grudgingly agreed. She was able to light the tinder without much difficulty and the wood soon caught fire. This seemed to make Azula a little happier. Now it was time to eat.

Since Azula was so thin you'd think that she'd be really hungry, so before I served out the food I explained that we had to conserve what we had until we could get back to Dairen. We were all surprised when Azula said that she wasn't hungry. Despite Ty Lee's assurances that she could have some food Azula just nibbled on a piece of dried fruit. When she tried to eat a nut it seemed to hurt her stomach (had she caught a stomach bug?). Given that this wasn't going well I decided to explain to Azula where she was and what we were doing.

"Azula, Zuko hired us to find you and bring you back to him. You're in a forest because you were being held in a mine in the forest. When we get out of the forest and return to Dairen we'll take a ship back to the Fire Nation."

"Zuzu worries to much. Just because I was missing for a few months doesn't mean I need to be rescued," Azula responded in a mocking tone.

"Azula you were missing for over a year and a half," Ty Lee corrected Azula.

"What!?" Azula shouted, she looked shocked.

This supported my theory that Azula had been betrayed early on, since she wasn't aware of how much time had passed. Most likely she wouldn't be able to provide us with any useful information about whatever whoever had kidnapped her was doing. Since Azula was unlikely to answer any of our questions I left her ask us some questions hoping that her questions could give us some information about what she knew. Unfortunately all she wanted to know was whether we had any Poppy Tea. We told her we didn't and that it was bad for her (Azula would be going cold turkeyseal). Azula looked annoyed and didn't look like she was listening to why it was bad for her so I gave up explaining it to her.

Since we had a long journey ahead of us I proposed that we get an early night (Azula was unlikely to attack us as long as she didn't know how to get out of the forest). However before going to our tents we threw Azula's gown on the fire (since it was dirty and poor quality there was no point carrying it with us). Since we didn't have a spare tent Azula shared Ty Lee's tent (Ty Lee didn't mind but I'm guessing Azula would have wanted her own tent).

The next morning I asked Ty Lee whether Azula said anything to her. Ty Lee said that Azula just complained that it was cold and wrapped herself up in her clothes (that was odd since it wasn't that cold last night). At breakfast Azula hardly ate anything, claiming she didn't feel hungry. After breakfast we packed up while Azula sat nibbling a piece of dried fruit. Before we set off I told Azula to let us know if she wanted us to stop to let her rest (this annoyed her).

Unfortunately Azula didn't want to admit she couldn't do something and no matter how tired she got she wouldn't say anything, preferring to push herself until she collapsed (and even then she still tried to get up and keep going). So whenever Azula looked like she was becoming tired (which was often) one of us (usually Ty Lee) would claim that they were tired and we'd stop. Since Azula was so slow and tired quickly we didn't make much progress.

When it got dark we set up camp. Though Azula was sweating heavily she was also wrapping her clothes around herself as if she was cold (I really hope she isn't ill, that would make this journey even worse). After resting while we set up camp Azula was able to light the campfire and eat a little food. But she seemed to have trouble staying awake, so Ty Lee helped carry her to their tent. When Ty Lee returned she said that Azula fell asleep as soon as she hit the ground (she sounded worried about Azula). It was obvious that Azula needed medical attention, so we needed to get her to Dairen fast. I proposed that we carried her, since it would be quicker. Though none of us objected the main problem would be convincing Azula.

The next morning we tried to convince Azula to let Ty Lee and Suki carry her back to Dairen. Azula refused, though she sounded sleepy. I figured that we should let her tire herself out so it'd be easier to convince her. However throughout the morning Azula acted oddly. She was swaying as she walked, her eyes looked glassy, and she'd often keep walking when everyone else stopped to rest until we physically stopped her. Then she collapsed.

At first we weren't that worried when Azula collapsed since she'd fallen down a few times during the first day. But this time was different. During the first day she'd collapse into a heap and breath heavily, then try to get back up; today she was unconscious. This was bad. Ty Lee freaked out and started crying, while Suki and Toph were looking to me for answers. After checking that Azula was still alive and breathing I told them that Azula had just overexerted herself and it was nothing to worry about, though I was worried that it might be something more serious.

For the rest of the day we carried Azula through the forest the same way we had when we first brought her out of the Fort; two of us carrying her, one of us resting. Part way through the day we came across a berry bush. Ty Lee wanted to pick berries for Azula, since they'd be easy for her to eat. I felt it was a waste of time but when I looked at Ty Lee her face said that she'd cry if she couldn't do this. So we put Azula down and stopped briefly so Ty Lee could pick some berries (putting them in a food bowl). Since me, Suki, and Ty Lee would be busy carrying Azula we had Toph carry the berries (she hadn't been doing much lately). I sternly told Toph not to eat the berries in the bowl (she's already eaten some from the bush). Ty Lee also tried to tell Toph sternly but she just sounded like she was about to cry.

Unfortunately Azula still hadn't woken up when we set up camp in the evening. This was definitely bad. We didn't talk much during that evening but we were all worried about whether Azula would survive the night. When we went to sleep we all hoped that Azula would still be with us in the morning.

Notes:

1) Azula doesn't eat much because when a person has suffered prolonged starvation they become less sensitive to hunger, cannot eat large volumes of food, have trouble eating solids. It's recommended that people suffering prolonged starvation are given sweetened water, then diluted milk, then normal milk, then semi-solid food that's high in calories, and finally solid food.

2) Opium is very addictive, which is why going cold turkey (turkeyseal) is not recommended. It's better to gradually reduce you dosage, so withdrawal symptoms are less severe.

3) A person whose suffered prolonged starvation tires more easily. Also a person with low body fat is extreme sensitivity to the cold.

4) Sweating and irritability are early withdrawal symptoms of opium withdrawal (occur between 6-12 hours after last opium administration). Sweating is also a sign of strenuous exercise.

5) A "glassy" look, automatism (automatic behaviour), slurred speech, and Ataxia (uncoordinated muscle movement that make the person look drunk) are all Neuroglycopenic manifestations of hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar).

6) Azula fell into a hypoglycaemic coma because her blood sugar level dropped too low. This happened because she was doing strenuous exercise (hiking through a forest), and was not taking in enough nutrients to sustain this activity. Being malnourished made this worse and increased her risk of death.

7) They don't make a stretcher to carry Azula with because making a stretcher would be harder than carrying her on their shoulders (do stretchers even exist in the Avatar world?).


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The Next Step

**Chapter 7: The Next Step**

When we woke in the morning Azula was still alive, though she hadn't regained consciousness. Ty Lee looked tired and her eyes looked puffy, like she'd spent most of the night crying. Since no one wanted to say anything we ate in silence, then continued to Dairen. We did the same as yesterday; me, Suki, and Ty Lee carried Azula, and Toph carried the bowl of berries. I calculated that if we kept up the same pace as yesterday we should arrive in Dairen by the middle of the afternoon, then we could take Azula to a doctor.

We'd been carrying Azula for most of the morning when she started stirring. We quickly put her down and waited to see if she'd regain consciousness. Azula then opened her eyes and started to sit up. Though I didn't know as much about medicine and healing as my sister I didn't think it was a good idea for Azula to be moving too much, so I told her to try not to move. Azula seemed to comply but looked a little confused.

Now that Azula was awake we'd needed to help her get back to normal. Since we were all crowding around her I told everyone to pull back to give her some room. As Ty Lee had the closest relationship with Azula I told her to go talk to Azula. Unfortunately Ty Lee had no idea what to do and just looked at Azula (Ty Lee's face gave away how confused she was). I told her to ask Azula if she wanted any water (she hadn't drunk anything in nearly a day). Azula said yes, so Ty Lee let Azula drink from her gourd. When Azula had finished drinking Toph asked whether Azula wanted these berries or not. Azula didn't seem too keen on eating berries but Ty Lee pleaded with her until she ate them. Since we weren't going to go anywhere for a while we decided to have an early lunch.

After we finished lunch we decided to set off. By then Azula had greatly recovered and was able to talk coherently (did the berries have medicinal effects?). This pleased Ty Lee who was hugging Azula, while Azula tried to pry Ty Lee off. Though Azula wanted to walk by herself the rest of us opposed this since we didn't want her to collapse again. So Suki and Ty Lee carried Azula, while Toph and I carried Ty Lee's and Suki's bags (we told her this was how we'd carried her through the forest). We continued like this until we reached the walls of Dairen, then we let Azula walk by herself (mainly because it'd look suspicious if we were carrying her).

After we'd entered Dairen Ty Lee tried to convince Azula to see a doctor but Azula refused saying that she felt fine. Since she was better and Azula was unlikely to change her mind for the moment we decided not to take her to a doctor. We then decided to split up, I'd go check when the next ship to the Fire Nation was and everyone else would go rent a room at the usual Inn.

At the docks I found that getting back to the Fire Nation would be difficult. Though there were plenty of ships going from the Fire Nation to Dairen almost of them travelled south to the Fire Nation Colony cities of 'Nanjing' and 'Guangzhou' before returning to the Fire Nation. This meant that we couldn't quickly leave the Colonies. However this didn't mean we couldn't send a message to Zuko warning him that his generals were trying to betray him and Azula was their puppet. As I headed to the Post Office to get some paper I remembered Xiaohong and wondered if he'd returned yet.

At the Post Office I found that Xiaohong had returned and had a message from Aang. The message said that Aang had found Azula leading a rally in the Southern Colonies (he was sure it was her because of her blue flames), however when he and Katara tried to capture Azula they found that she'd switched with a body double and that despite extensive searching they couldn't relocate Azula. Given that we had the real Azula the 'body double' was the Azula leading the rally. This would explain why any attempt to capture Azula resulted in a 'body double' being captured, she was never there to begin with. However the blue flames part seemed odd. It's unlikely that there'd be another Firebender who looked like Azula and had blue flames, so they were probably using some sort of trick (I'd figure it out later). I then bought some paper and ink, and headed to the Inn we were staying at.

Outside of the Inn I met Suki. She told me that she'd purchased two rooms; one for her, me, and Toph; and the other for Azula and Ty Lee. While I would have preferred to be alone with Suki I wouldn't want to force Toph to share a room with Azula (we never rented single rooms because they left us too vulnerable to attacks). I told Suki we'd need to discuss what to do next in our room.

Once I, Suki, Toph, and Ty Lee were in my room I explained to them about the letter from Aang. Though Ty Lee wanted to include Azula in this meeting I reminded her that since Azula didn't want to leave the mine she wouldn't be interested in a discussion about leaving the Colonies. I then explained that our options were to send Xiaohong to Aang and wait for him in Dairen (though we didn't know how long this would take), or travel to another city (this would move us further from the Fort and its Captain). There was a ship for Nanjing leaving in 3 days, that would take 2 days to reach Nanjing; while we'd have to wait a week for a ship to Guangzhou and it would take 4 days to get there. Nanjing was located in the Northern Colonies but was close to the Earth Kingdom area, which would be a good place to hide; while Guangzhou was in the Southern part of the Colonies but was closer to Aang (since most of the Earth Kingdom / Fire Nation conflict was in the Southern part). We then discussed our next move.

The others all went next door to talk about something. Not that I care. I'm about to be humiliated, as I have to return to the Fire Nation and Zuko like this and admit that I lived like a rat in a cave for over a year. I can't even rest because my feet are so sore from those damn boots and now my stomach's started hurting. I need some Poppy Tea. Poppy Tea's the only thing that helps me forget my pitiful life.

After some debate we decided to travel to Nanjing and hide in Hangzhou because we needed to get away from the Fort as soon as we could and under the Peace Treaty agreed by the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom the Fire Nation army couldn't enter Earth Kingdom areas (though this wouldn't stop the Fire Nation Army it would hinder them). Before we got on the ship we'd send a letter to Aang using Xiaohong telling him where we were going. I decided not to send a letter to Aang immediately in case we had to suddenly change our plans, since Xiaohong was our only way of contacting Aang and Xiaohong could not find us.

With our escape plan finalised I then set about writing a coded letter to Zuko explaining that the generals, not Azula, were responsible for the troubles in the Colonies. Once I'd finished it I decided to send this letter to Zuko, then eat (the inn would provide you with food but it wasn't free). Unfortunately by the time I got to the Post Office it had already closed, so I'd have to send the letter tomorrow (that was annoying).

I returned to the inn and waited for out food to be cooked. We decided to order some Juk for Azula since it would be easy for her to eat, though the difficulty would be convincing her to eat it. After waiting a while our food arrived.

After we ordered our meal I went back to our room and tried to talk with Azula (she was in bed with her blanket wrapped around her) but she didn't want to talk about anything. When I told her about her food she said she had a stomachache (that had to be a lie, Azula never got sick).

When my Kon Loh Mee and Azula's Juk arrived I tried to convince her to eat it. I tried telling her to eat it before it got cold, but that didn't work. I tried telling her that she'd look less bony if she ate it, but that didn't work either. I then told her that she needed to keep up her strength in case she was attacked. Azula asked who was going to attack her (she said this in a mocking way) and I replied the rebel army might, since they were causing problems for Zuko. Since Azula didn't respond to this, I tried to think up another reason why she should eat her food. Then Azula sat up, turned to me and said.

"How can an army cause problems for Zuko, why doesn't the Avatar just crush it?"

"He doesn't know who's leading it so he can't punish them," I replied.

"That's unlikely. Surely the Avatar or one of his lackies had some clue who's leading it by their aims," Azula replied, she sounded bored.

"Uh … well they claimed you were leading them and you were trying to gather enough support to overthrow Zuko," I explained.

Azula now seemed much more interested in what I was saying. She moved closer to me and said asked me to tell her more. I replied that I wouldn't tell her unless she ate her food. Azula looked annoyed, but she picked up her food and ate a small spoonful of it. So I continued telling her all I knew, stopping only when Azula wasn't eating (or I was eating).

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. All this time I thought that as long as the Avatar supported Zuko it would be impossible for me to gather the support I needed to overthrown him, yet someone had done this for me.

By questioning Ty Lee I found out that she didn't understand exactly what the army was but I was able to fill in the blanks. This army wasn't a rebel army, since they hadn't rebelled against Zuko (yet); but a collection of Fire Nation soldiers, generals, colonialist, and even some Dai Lee who wanted to replace Zuko with me. The exact size was unknown since it wasn't clear which generals supported this.

When I asked why this was causing the Avatar problems since they hadn't actually done anything Ty Lee explained that they were behind several attacks on nearby Earth Kingdom towns in the southern part of the Colonies but she wasn't sure how they were involved. Most likely these attacks were to force the people of the Earth Kingdom to leave our Colonies (a very good idea).

If I wanted to restore my honour and restore the Fire Nation to its former glory I had to take control of this army. However finding their leaders would be difficult since they were pretending to be loyal to Zuko. Until I could determine who was loyal to me I'd remain with this group; since I knew that their loyalty was to Zuko and that none of them could be trusted.

Notes:

1) Azula fell into a hypoglycaemic coma because her blood sugar level dropped too low. This happened because she was doing strenuous exercise (hiking through a forest), and was not taking in enough nutrients to sustain this activity. Being malnourished made this worse and increased her risk of death. Azula woke up because her body metabolised (changed) some of her fat into sugars. Eating the berries helped her to quickly recover because they contained a lot of easily digestible sugars. They were not magical.

2) Since 48-96 hours have passed since Azula's last cup of Poppy Tea she's now going to experience major withdrawal symptoms. These are:

2A) Physical withdrawal symptoms: irritability, loss of appetite, severe abdominal pain (stomach cramps), nausea and vomiting, problems sleeping, and even stronger and more intense drug cravings. This is why Azula has stomach pains.

2B) Psychological withdrawal symptoms: anxiety, insomnia, mood swings, and paranoia.

These will last for 8-12 days (physical symptoms only). Gradually reducing the amount of opium you take reduces the severity of the symptoms. It's possible to avoid withdrawal symptoms using Accelerated Neuroregulation or ANR (www.anrclinic.info/).

3) Nanjing and Guangzhou are two Chinese cities. Both of them are former capitals of China.

4) The line of stars refers to a change in character. Try to guess who it is.

5) Hangzhou is the name I gave to the Earth Kingdom port city in 'The Storm' (Season 1, episode 12). Hangzhou is another city in China, that was once the Capital of China.

6) Juk is a rice corgee dish (Iroh made it for Zuko in Season 2, episode 18).

7) Kon Loh Mee is a Singaporean noodle dish.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Leaving Dairen Chapter 8: Leaving Dairen

# 2 days before the ship to Nanjing leaves #

The next day I went to see Lai to sell the jewellery I'd taken from the Fort. At first I was reluctant to sell it since them because they belonged to someone else, however I didn't want them to be sold to raise money to help support Azula's campaign in the colonies, even though Azula wasn't involved in it and technically we'd be using the money to support Azula. I then gave up rationalising and decided to sell them.

When I finally tracked Lai down I showed him the jewellery and he told me who'd pay a good price for it. Next he asked how it went with my "supplier" and I told him a fake story in which we went nowhere near the Fort (I didn't know who he might talk to). Afterwards I asked Lai if he had any more "jobs" available (we'd need to get as much money as we could for the trip) and he said he had some "deliveries" coming in that he needed "guarded". I then asked if he knew of anyone who could get Earth Kingdom clothes (going around the Earth Kingdom in Fire Nation clothes would make us stand out). I expected Lai would have to talk to his "contacts" to find someone who could get Earth Kingdom clothes but he knew of someone right away. All he needed to know were the sizes and style; he didn't ask why (no one ever asks why you want something). Though I knew my size, and I was fairly confident I knew Suki's and Toph's I was unsure about Ty Lee's and had no idea about Azula's. So I told Lai I'd check the sizes and make the order when we went to "guard" his "deliveries".

I then left to sell the jewellery and try to calculate what amount of supplies we'd need.

Normally out of Mai, Azula, and me Azula would be the first one awake and would wake the rest of us up. Today I was awake before Azula. I didn't want to wake her since I though she'd be up soon but as the morning went on she remained asleep. I didn't think it'd be wise to wake her up so I decided to let her sleep.

Even though Azula didn't want to see a doctor I decided to see one on her behalf to get some advice. Since Azula might wake up and wonder where I was I told Suki and Toph where I was and asked them to keep an eye on Azula. I then left the inn and went to see the local doctor.

The doctor was a middle aged man with short beard. Like most doctors he was very serious. When I asked him how to cure someone who hasn't eaten in a long time he recommended giving them food that's semi-solid, then gradually move onto food that's more solid. He also recommended that the patient should slowly increase the amount of food they eat each day until they're eating at a normal level.

After talking to the doctor I left and went back to the inn. Though when I got back to our room Azula was still asleep. Since it was nearly time for lunch I decided to wake her (she'd be cranky it I woke her but she'll probably be cranky if she doesn't eat lunch). I pushed her gently while saying "It's time to wake up Azula". Eventually she woke up and turned towards me.

"Why did you wake me Ty Lee, it's too early."

"Azula it's almost lunch time," I pointed out.

"I don't feel like eating," Azula replied. She started to go back to sleep.

"Azula no, you can't sleep all day. Isn't there anything you want to do?" I asked.

Azula looked at me, then she went back to sleep. How could she be so tired after sleeping for so long. I decided to wake her again when lunch arrived.

Ty Lee woke me again later and gave me some Juk to eat. I didn't feel like eating, since I still had stomach pains and was feeling nauseous (why'd I have to get sick now). I wanted to go back to sleeps since I didn't sleep well last night. However Ty Lee wouldn't let me go back to sleep until I'd eaten, so I started to eat the Juk just to shut her up.

While I was eating Ty Lee decided to tell me all about how great the Fire Nation was under Zuzu. Was she trying to annoy me! Most of it was useless information, though she did mention that Zuzu was retraining several of the younger soldiers so they could have non-military careers. Zuzu's foolishness wouldn't affect the army now but after years of reduction it would be drastically reduced in size. This policy had to be stopped before Zuko reduced the army to a level where it could no longer reconquer the Earth Kingdom.

Not wanting to hear more about Zuzu I decided to change the topic. During our last conversation Ty Lee had mentioned that Zuzu had surrendered much of the land the Fire Nation won during the war back to the Earth Kingdom (though Fire Nation colonists refused to become part of the Earth Kingdom). However she didn't mention what happened to the Air Nomad lands, since the only survivor was the Avatar and he couldn't live in on all the islands at the same time. When I asked Ty Lee about this she explained that the Air Nomad lands were given back to the Avatar but Zuko was going to look after them on behalf of the Avatar. Ty Lee also said that one of the temples belonged to a mechanical man and his family but she didn't know which one.

By this time I'd finished eating the Juk, so Ty Lee let me go back to sleep. However it proved hard to fall asleep, even though I was so tired. So I just lay around all day doing nothing. I want some Poppy Tea, Poppy Tea always makes the day go quicker.

That evening Suki, Toph, and I met up with Lai for our "work". I told Lai the style and sizes of the clothes we'd need (Ty Lee was reluctant to give me her and Azula's measurements but didn't want to leave Azula to tell Lai herself). Then I asked Lai if he had anything in stock that would fit. He said that tomorrow he could arrange for them to be sent here by the evening. I asked how he was planning to do this since it took two days for a ship to travel from her to Nanjing and he told me that the his "delivery ships" were faster than the ship we'd be taking. Since he had a reputation for being able to deliver I bartered with him over the price, then made the order.

# 1 day before the ship to Nanjing leaves #

Okay I've gotten all the food and camping equipment we'd need to travel from Nanjing to Hangzhou (at Azula's pace it should take 7 days). We weren't going to take Trail Mix this time because Azula couldn't eat it and it got boring eating the same thing all week. Now all we needed were the Earth Kingdom clothes.

Why do I have to suffer like this day after day! Today I tried to use threats to make Ty Lee get me some Poppy Tea but this failed since it isn't sold in the Fire Nation (Ty Lee wasn't lying when she said this). If I wanted Poppy Tea I'd have to import it from the Earth Kingdom. Damn it, damn it, damn it!

Lai was as good as his word and when I met with him he had the clothes all ready. Judging by the look of the clothes they were either brand new or were second hand but hadn't been worn much. I asked Lai where he'd gotten them and he said that he knew a good tailor in Hangzhou who was always looking for work. Seeing as how there was a good market for clothes in the Colonies I asked why this tailor didn't make Fire Nation clothes and sell them here. Lai replied that there were high import tariffs on anything made in the Earth Kingdom and that anyone who wasn't a Fire Nation citizen couldn't set up a business in the Colonies. This didn't seem like something Zuko would allow, since he wanted to foster greater relations with the Earth Kingdom. When I asked Lai who made these laws he replied "Jiating". Lai then explained that Jiating kept all the import tariffs money for himself and didn't declare that he was collecting this tax so Zuko would never know about it. I asked if there was anyway to avoid paying this and Lai replied sadly "Become a smuggler, though you'll never get a good price for your wares". I wondered if this is why Lai had become a smuggler. I didn't ask him because I knew he wouldn't tell me.

# Departure Day #

Even though the departure was mid-morning I wanted everyone awake and ready, and that included Azula. When Azula and Ty Lee finally arrived Azula looked terrible (for someone who spent all day asleep she looked very tried) and her personality was worse. She wanted to know what was going on and why she had to wear Earth Kingdom clothes. So I told her that we were going to travel to Nanjing to Hangzhou and wait there for Aang, who'd take us back to the Fire Nation. I then explained that since we were travelling in Earth Kingdom territory we'd need to blend in (Azula could wear the coat she got from the Fort over her Earth Kingdom clothes on the boat). Though I could have also gotten her Fire Nation clothes I only got Azula Earth Kingdom clothes so that if she escaped she wouldn't be able to easily travel in Fire Nation areas.

After that Azula demanded lip paint and some hair accessories to tie up her hair. I explained that this would be a bad idea since she'd be recognised, due to all the wanted posters. This really annoyed Azula and wanted to know why Zuko had put a bounty on her. I reminded Azula that everyone though that she was leading an army against Zuko, so it was only natural that he put a bounty on her (I'm sure he'd remove it once he got the letter that I sent … I forgot to send the letter to Zuko). Not wanting to reveal my forgetfulness I told everyone that I needed to send Xiaohong to Aang and quickly left. Once at the Post Office I sent Zuko's letter to Mai (Zuko wanted us to send our reports to her since his letters may be intercepted). I then gave Xiaohong his letter and told him to go to Aang. Now that I had fixed my error I went back to the inn to wait with the others. Since the Fire Nation army hadn't made any moves so far such a short delay couldn't cause that many problems.

"Fire Lord have you though any more about your representative in the Colonies?"

I hadn't though any more about this, I'd been busy recently trying to figure out where Azula's next rally would be (she seemed to be able to move from one place to another with incredible speed). The representative idea wasn't a bad idea, since it would empower someone local to quickly respond to emergencies and help coordinate the various colonies. My father and grandfather had both objected to this idea since it would weaken their power, though I supported it. However its main weakness was that if my representative sided with Azula she could very easily take complete control of the Colonies. If I appointed a representative I'd have to be sure I could trust them.

"I'm still considering potential candidates," I replied, though this was a lie.

"General Shinu from the Colonies has requested your permission to use the Scouts from the Fire Nation army to hunt down escaped criminals. Do you want to approve this?"

I'd forbidden most generals from using the army unless I ordered it or in cases of self-defence to make it harder for Azula to start an uprising. Though there were many reports of generals disobeying this order and ordering small groups to act as their bodyguards. The Scouts were Komodo Riders who were trained to move quickly over various terrain. They weren't strong fighters to the amount of damage they could do to Earth Kingdom settlements would be minimal and it would be obvious if they were being misused. Besides they might even be able to track down Azula.

"I'll permit this but only to track down dangerous criminals." I decreed.

Notes:

1) Azula is having sleeping difficulties due to her withdrawal symptoms. Also people who've experienced severe starvation are lethargic because their bodies are trying to conserve energy by preventing them from moving so much (when the human body is starved it destroys muscles so that the person cannot move as much, this reduced how much a person can move and helps preserves fat stores).

2) Irritability, nausea, sleeping difficulties, and stomach pains are all opium withdrawal symptoms. So are cravings for opium (Poppy Tea).

3) The 'mechanical man' Ty Lee mentions is the Mechanist, who is currently living in the Northern Air Temple.

4) Hangzhou is the name I gave to the Earth Kingdom port city in 'The Storm' (Season 1, episode 12). Hangzhou is another city in China, that was once the Capital of China.

5) General Shinu is Fire Nation general that first appeared in the 'The Blue Spirit' (Season 1, episode 13) as Colonel Shinu, the commander of Pohuai Stronghold and director of the Yu Yan Archers. In 'Souzin's Comet' he appeared in the Fire Lord's War Room, where he'd been promoted to general.

6) WHO information about treating malnutrition and other associated problems:

whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/1999/a57361.pdf


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Poison

**Chapter 9: Poison**

We managed to board the Nayami (the ship that was taking us to Nanjing) without any problem. The Nayami was a Fire Nation cargo ship that had been converted to carry extra passengers. Judging by how few people there were onboard and how much cargo they put into it I'm guessing that very few people travel this way. This was fortunate since we didn't want anyone to know where we were.

Shortly after boarding Azula demanded that we take her to her room (the room she was sharing with Ty Lee anyway). Since we didn't want to carry our bags around the ship we all went below deck to our rooms. We came to the family room I was sharing with Toph and Suki first (any room with more than two beds was called a family room), so we went in while Ty Lee and Azula continued down the hall. As I watched them go down the hall I noticed Azula was slightly clutching her stomach as she walked (was she feeling sea sick, who'd have though Azula suffered from sea sickness). We then started unpacking and a short while later Ty Lee came in and told us that Azula was resting in her bed.

Though there's nothing wrong with a guy and three girls being in a room on a ship together when we were travelling from Ember Island to Dairen it did generate some unpleasant rumours. These were made worse when I decided that I shouldn't be alone with more than one girl, so I allotted them each some 'Sokka Time' and had whoever I'd finished seeing had to get whoever's turn was next (all we did during 'Sokka Time' was talk about what we'd being doing in Dairen). This caused most of the guys to hate me and some girls to ask for their own 'Sokka Time'. So after unpacking we went on deck and watched them load cargo.

At about half 11 the captain said we were about to depart, that lunch would be served at 1 and dinner at 6, and that unless we ran into rough weather we would arrive in Nanjing at 10 tomorrow morning. Since there didn't seem to be much entertainment onboard we just watched the ship sail away from Dairen.

Not only was my stomach still hurting but now I was having to prevent myself from vomiting. Why was this happening? I'd sailed in rough seas and storms without any problem, so why couldn't I handle this? What was wrong with my body?

Suddenly becoming ill for so long can't just be a bad luck, something must be making me ill. But what. All of the food I've been eating came from that inn so it could of been food poisoning … wait a minute poison. They've been poisoning my food. That's why I've suddenly became ill after they found me and why Ty Lee always wants me to eat. They're trying to kill me.

No that makes no sense. If they wanted to kill me they could have done it earlier, they had plenty of chances. So they want me alive but weak, why? The boy … Sokka mentioned that there was a bounty on me, it would be easier to for them to claim it if I couldn't fight back. But why take me to Nanjing, why not claim it in Dairen? Even if they didn't have the money to pay the bounty in Dairen they'd still hold me in a cell there while they waited for their money. What couldn't they do in Dairen?

The Avatar. For some reason we were meeting him in Hangzhou, rather than going directly to the Fire Nation. Negaeri had mentioned that the Avatar had taken my father's bending from him. The Avatar could do the same to me and if I was weakened I couldn't stop him. So they want me weak so I can't stop the Avatar. But why do they want to take my bending away, they know I'm not leading the rebel army or behind any of the troubles in the colonies? Even if they took my bending away it wouldn't stop them. Though if I couldn't Firebend it would weaken my claim to the Fire Nation Throne.

That's it. They don't want me dead, they want to break me so I can't threaten Zuko and no one else can use me to threaten him. Without my bending I can't defeat Zuko and he can do anything he wants to me. As soon as the Avatar steals my bending they take me to Zuko so he can show everyone I've been captured to weaken the resistance and strengthen Zuko's position. Zuko may even have executed to end any threat to him being Fire Lord. I have to escape.

However escaping will be difficult. Not only am I at sea but I'm not at my best. I can't beat them all together but if I fight them separately I'll have a better chance. Since Ty Lee is always alone when she brings me my food she'll be easiest to kill. Though if I kill her I'll have to kill the other three quickly before they can retaliate. Sokka and Suki can't bend but both use swords, so I'll have to keep my distance when I attack them, but they shouldn't be too much trouble. However the small Earthbender … Toph will be more difficult. I've heard from Fire Nation reports that she can bend metal, so she has a big adventage in this ship. Though if I use my lighting and kill her second it'll be easy to finish off Sokka and Suki.

This was a good plan but had one flaw. After separating and recombining my positive and negative chi I needed to direct the energy released to form my lighting, but because of the poison I was having concentrating. I then tested whether I could generate lighting and it blew up in my face. Annoying. Without my lighting I was at a big disadvantage. I'd need to play along until I've recovered my lighting. However to recover I need to stop them poisoning me.

Since Azula couldn't go out and get lunch I decided to bring lunch down to her (there was a small table in our room that we could eat off). As there wasn't any room service I had to carry it down to our room (though they did give me a tray). When I got to our room I knocked on the door with the corner of the tray and asked Azula to open the door for me (I had both my hands full). Azula opened the door and I brought the food and tea in.

Today Azula didn't make any objections and started to eat her Juk. Though she seemed more interested in watching me eat, than eating her food.

"This Juk tasted odd," Azula suddenly said.

"You can't expect food on a ship like this to be that good," I replied.

"Why don't you taste it and tell me what you think of it," Azula said in a friendly tone.

"It's probably nothing," I replied, Azula was too fussy.

"Eat it!" Azula shouted. She looked angry and pushing a spoonful of Juk towards me.

The look on Azula's face told me that this was not negotiable, so I ate the Juk. It wasn't that good but it didn't taste odd. Azula stared at me while I ate it.

"It doesn't taste odd to me," I told Azula, why was she doing this?

"Try some more then," Azula said coldly pushing another spoonful towards me.

I ate three more spoonfuls, each time telling Azula there was nothing wrong with it. After the third spoonful Azula wiped the spoon, then continued eating the Juk. She then watched me like a hawkowl almost all the time we were eating. Though I wasn't sure if she was watching me when went to answer the door since my back was to her (whoever knocked left before I could open the door).

When we were done eating I was going to take our dish back to the kitchen but Azula stopped me, saying that she wanted to hear about my time in Dairen (before she hadn't cared about this). When I told her that I'd tell her all about it after I returned the dishes to the kitchen she got very annoyed and demanded I tell her now (I don't know why she suddenly wanted to hear this story). I began telling the story but Azula didn't seem that interested in the story but seemed more interested in watching me (it was kind of creepy).

Part way through the story Azula stopped me and said she'd heard enough and that I could take the dishes back to the kitchen. I picked up the dishes and left. Why was Azula acting this way?

Later in the evening Ty Lee left our room and returned with dinner. As the easiest way to poison me would be to put the poison in my food or drink I would have Ty Lee test both. Just like at lunch I pretended to eat my Juk, then demanded Ty Lee ate it. If she refused this was proof that it was poisoned. However she willingly ate the Juk, much more willingly than she ate it at lunch.

Next I needed to test the tea. Since we were drinking from the same pot the tea wouldn't be poisoned but they could poison the cup. So I waited until Ty Lee had poured herself another cup (I needed to be sure her cup wasn't poisoned) then knocked on the underside of the table and told Ty Lee someone was at the door. When she went to answer I switched our cups round. Again Ty Lee didn't become ill by drinking from my cup.

From this I could conclude that either the poison wasn't in the food and drink or all the food and drink was poisoned and Ty Lee was talking an antidote to prevent her becoming ill. So I kept her behind after dinner and made her tell me about what she did in Dairen. If Ty Lee knew she'd been poisoned she'd become worried and would try to make an excuse to leave, so she could get the antidote. Unfortunately Ty Lee looked far less worried than she had at lunch and though she seemed a little afraid of me she didn't look like she'd been poisoned and needed to quickly take an antidote.

Eventually I let her go to take the dishes away. I'd need the quiet to figure out how they were poisoning me. What were they using?

After an uneventful trip we were finally in Nanjing. From the deck I could see all the way into the harbour. As the ship approached I could only see Nanjing and some Fire Nation ships. But as we got closer I could see sailors, a long line of people queuing to board a ship, and some Fire Nation soldiers standing by the line to maintain order. As I looked round I saw similar sights. People boarding and leaving ships, surrounded by Fire Nation soldiers. Then I realised what they were doing, they were searching everyone coming into or leaving Nanjing. This was very bad. I quickly ran below deck to tell the girls that we had a major problem.

Notes:

I had some trouble writing this chapter. I had planned for Azula to attack Ty Lee but this caused major problems for the story since you can't go from travelling together to enemies and back to travelling together. So I had to rewrite parts of it.

1) Nayami is a Japanese word meaning worry or anguish.

2) Sokka doesn't realise there's a connection between Azula's 'illness' and her Poppy Tea withdrawal symptoms because his knowledge of Popy Tea's withdrawal symptoms comes from anecdotal accounts from village chiefs, rather than testimony from those who've become addicted to Poppy Tea or studies conducted by doctors. Thus he knows that addicts find it hard to quit Poppy Tea and constantly crave it but he doesn't know that it has other withdrawal symptoms.

Also since Azula has suffered malnutrition and is technically still an escaped mental patient; and Sokka isn't a doctor, nutritionist, or psychiatrist it's unlikely that he's be able to determine exactly what was causing Azula to act the way she does.

3) Who Negaeri is will be explained in a future chapter.

4) Azula doesn't know about the withdrawal symptoms of Poppy Tea, so she assumes her 'illness' is unrelated to it.

5) Juk is a rice corgee dish (Iroh made it for Zuko in Season 2, episode 18).


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Escape from Nanjing**

I went downstairs into the room I shared with Suki and Toph. I told them we had a problem and asked Suki to get Ty Lee and Azula. Suki then left and a few minutes later arrived with Ty Lee and Azula (Azula still looked tired). I explained that the dock was swarming with Fire Nation soldiers, so we'd need to disguise Azula (mainly using makeup). I asked Ty Lee to bring in her makeup and the clothes we took from the Captain, so we'd know what we had to work with.

"Uh … Sokka we don't have any of the Captain's clothes anymore. When Azula got her new clothes she burned them," Ty Lee said.

"What about the Jacket she was wearing when she boarded the Nayami," I asked, if Azula wore this jacket it would cover most of her Earth Kingdom clothes.

"Azula burned it last night," Ty Lee said, she sounded upset about this for some reason.

It took a moment from me to realise just how bad this was. If Azula was wearing Earth Kingdom clothes she would draw attention to herself and since her face was on wanted posters everywhere most people would recognise who she was. If she went out like this she'd be caught instantly. Though I wanted to shout at Azula and find out why she burned that jacket, this wouldn't fix the problem. I need to think of a way to fix this.

Okay, to disguise Azula we need to hide her Earth Kingdom clothes or give her some of our clothes. We didn't have any spare clothes, so we couldn't do that latter. We could steal a blanket from the ship and wrap it round Azula to hide her Earth Kingdom clothes. If a Fire Nation soldier saw Azula like this they'd be suspicious and would investigate. But we kept them far away from Azula they might not notice that she was wearing a blanket, so as along as a Fire Nation soldier didn't get too close to Azula we should be able to hide her identity.

"If we don't have the Jacket it'll be harder to hide Azula, so we'll need to make sure she isn't seen. Toph we'll need you to tear a hole in the side of the ship so we can escape undetected."

"No problem," replied Toph, obviously happy that she could destroy something.

The plan was simple; we go down to the cargo deck and have Toph Metalbend a small hole in the side of the ship. When the coast is clear Toph would open up a large hole which we'd all climb out of, then Toph closes the hole so no one knows we were here. We then travel to the edge of Nanjing and have Toph Earthbend a hole in the outer wall so we can avoid any guards on the gate (there are bound to be guards on the gate). The main difficultly would be keeping Azula away from Fire Nation soldiers. As Suki and Ty Lee said that makeup wouldn't help hide Azula and Azula didn't want Ty Lee to give her a different hair style, the chances of Azula being recognised were pretty high. But with no other options we gathered our stuff and headed down to the cargo deck.

#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&

We all headed down to the cargo deck. Toph lead the way and used Metalbending to determine where the sailors were so we wouldn't be seen. Occasionally Sokka would ask Toph to make a small hole in the ship, so that he could look out and see if we were low enough. When we finally got low enough he told us we'd wait here for a chance to escape.

The ship was cold and the blanket barely kept me warm. Though the jacket was warmer it was also the only item of clothing I still had from when this group found me. Since I'd become sick after wearing those clothes it's possible that they'd poisoned them somehow. So I burned the jacket to ensure it couldn't poison me (Ty Lee's efforts to save the jacket showed that they'd done something to it, else she would have cared about it). Though it's possible that the Earth Kingdom clothes are also poisoned I can't burn because I don't have any other clothes to wear. As soon as I acquires some new clothes I'll destroy them as well.

Eventually Sokka saw whatever he was looking for and ordered Toph to make a larger hole. He then jumped through it. Judging by the way he fell and the thud sound when he hit the ground there was a gap between the floor we were on and the dock. Next Suki jumped out. Ty Lee then asked if I needed help getting out. I told her I didn't need any help and walked towards the hole. I looked out of the hole and checked how far down it was to the dock. Since it was only a short distance I jumped down. Ty Lee then followed. Toph came out last and very reluctantly (it seems that she has trouble sensing the distance between metal and stone). After Toph sealed the hole in the boat and we set off with Sokka leading the way.

The docks were a jumble of people and cargo both boarding and leaving the ships. Further down there was a market and beyond that the series of buildings that made up Nanjing. As we travelled across the docks I quickly figured out that Sokka was trying to lead us in the opposite direction of any Fire Nation soldier he saw. Unfortunately this impulsive travelling resulted in us walking back and forth along the docks (occasionally hiding behind some cargo) until we ended up at an empty pier.

While every stood in front of me to shield me from the crowds and Sokka tried to figure out where we should go next I evaluated my options. I had two choices: either I stay with this group or surrender myself to a Fire Nation soldier (there was no other way to escape this group since I had nowhere to escape to). Though this group was trying to poison me and they were working for Zuko I knew that they couldn't be trusted. However I didn't know which Fire Nation soldiers supported me or and which supported Zuko. If they supported me they would help me escape and rejoin the 'rebel' army, but it they supported Zuko I'd be captured and executed. Since it would be harder to escape from the Fire Nation army than this group I decided to remain with them for the moment. Though I'll need to kill them or escape before we reached Hangzhou. But first I'd need to escape Nanjing (if I killed them here their bodies would be discovered quickly).

As we had an Earthbender we could easily go through the city walls, so we weren't limited to exiting through the main gate. The difficulty was getting to these walls without me being seen. If a soldier sees me and reports this to Zuko he would authorise reinforcements and send out search parties to find me. Even if they didn't catch me they would hamper my efforts. I had to escape without being seen.

#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&

Now that I've stopped having to worry about us getting caught and having to constantly run around the docks I can evaluate the situation. Basically we have two options; either we sneak aboard another ship or we sneak out of Nanjing. Though sneaking aboard another ship would get us out of Nanjing and the risk of Azula being seen was low we had no way of knowing where we'd end up or how long we'd be at sea (unless we hijacked the ship). By contrast sneaking out of Nanjing and walking to Hangzhou would be the more reliable way of getting there. But as long as Azula was travelling with us getting out of Nanjing be difficult. We couldn't go out the main gate, since that would be too well guarded but if Toph used her Earthbending on one of the southern outer walls would could escape through that (Hangzhou was south of Nanjing, so if we didn't exit through a southern wall we'd have to walk round Nanjing's walls).

To determine where the southern walls were I needed to reorientate myself. Since we came from the north if we went towards the buildings we had sailed past as we entered Nanjing we'd be travelling north, but if we went in the opposite direction we'd be travelling south. After checking the surrounding buildings I was able to locate the buildings we'd past and determine which way south was. I then told everyone that we'd be travelling south and that we'd escape through the wall using Toph's Earth bending. I also warned them that we'd have to hide Azula from the Fire Nation soldiers since there was no way we could defeat so many of them.

Progress along the docks was slow since we were constantly having to hide behind cargo and wait for the soldiers to either leave or look the other way. By the time we were out of the docks and hidden among the buildings we were all tired and hungry (Azula looked very tired). As hungry and tired as we were now was not the time to rest and have lunch, since we could be discovered at any moment. We needed to keep moving. Though I tried to keep up moral by promising everyone that we could have lunch and rest after we escaped, most of our hope faded when got to the wall.

Though I wasn't surprised that the outer wall had Fire Nation soldiers stationed on top of it I hadn't counted on there being Fire Nation soldiers in front of it (were they worried about the wall being vandalised). Since the soldiers in front of the wall would attack us if Toph made a hole in the wall we couldn't break through it, so we'd need to tunnel under it instead. I turned to Toph.

"Toph, change of plan. Since the wall's guarded we'll need to tunnel under it, rather than break through it."

"Just take out the guards and break through it," Azula said.

We were all shocked by this. Not because of what Azula said but because she actually spoke (Azula almost never said anything to us).

"That's too risky. If we get into a fight with the guards we'll quickly get overwhelmed," I replied.

"Digging a hole is far more noticeable and will a long time, both of which increase the chance of me being discovered," Azula said in a slightly kind way, "Ty Lee can quickly take out the ground level guards and Toph can easily incapacitate the ones on the wall by creating a stone wall around them. Once none of the guards can see me Toph just needs to break a hole in the wall so we can escape, then seal the hole so the remaining soldiers can't follow us. By the time they figure out what happened we'll be long gone. As long as they don't see me they'll just think it was a random attack and won't pursue us."

Azula's plan did have some merits, since it would allow us to quickly escape. Though I still think the tunnel idea would be the safest way I had a feeling that the others may prefer the quicker way, since they wanted to leaving Nanjing as soon as possible (also Azula would probably sabotage the tunnel if she didn't get her way). I asked her to quickly explain her plan in more detail, specifically the order in which we attack the soldiers. Azula explained and we all got into our positions (Suki and I had to stop Azula being seen by the guards, then move the guards Ty Lee paralysed).

Azula's plan worked and in less than a minute we were out of Nanjing and running towards a nearby forest (the whole of the Western Earth Kingdom seemed to be one giant forest). Once in the forest I turned back and checked on Nanjing. No one was coming from Nanjing after us, we had escaped without a problem. But now was not the time to stop an celebrate. Just to be safe we needed to move deeper into the forest in case they sent out soldiers out to find us. I asked Toph to locate a nearby stream or river (so we'd have fresh water and wouldn't have to carry water). She found one after some searching and we set off in that direction.

Since Azula helped us it seems that she finally trusted us.

#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&#&

My plan worked without a problem. When the guards are questioned they'll report that they were attacked by three or four people, so when they find four bodies in the woods they'll stop searching for them, making it easier for me to escape alone.

Notes:

This chapter is slightly later than I would have liked but I was suffering from some hand pains that made it difficult to type.

1) I was asked why the group don't just buy some Komodo Rhinos to travel to Hangzhou. I though about this and came up with some plausible reasons: firstly they're too expensive to buy and look after, secondly they can't take them to an Earth Kingdom area and pretend not to be Fire Nation, and thirdly Azula may use them to escape (she can ride even if she can't run).

2) The 'outer wall' of a city is the wall that separates the city from the everywhere outside the city.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Trouble in the forest: part 1**

*********** Fire Nation Royal Palace ************

It was another tiring day today. In the morning I received yet more reports from the generals in the colonies about Azula's campaign in the northern areas (mainly looting and abducting children to fight as soldiers in her armies). This new wave of terror worried the generals, so they were requesting access to additional soldiers to stop Azula. I then spent the rest of the day in meetings with my advisors and hearing their suggestions on which soldiers would be most effective. After a long day I decided to granted them an additional four more divisions to be used to defend the villages in the north and two mounted divisions to search for Azula's soldiers. Now I just wanted to sleep.

However when I entered my room I knew I wouldn't be sleeping just yet; Mai was waiting for me in my room, holding another letter from Sokka.

"Can it wait unit morning? I asked.

"No, you need to read this," Mai replied.

Mai then wrapped the letter around the rod and handed it to me. Written on the top part was 'Azula is'. I grabbed the rod from Mai and then turned it to read the next line 'a puppet'. This confused me, if Azula was a puppet who was leading the rebellion? The next two lines answer this question 'The generals are the masterminds'. I turned the rod again but there was no more information (this method didn't allow much information to be sent). I stared at the rod for a few minutes trying to take in what I'd just read.

To prevent the generals in the colonies being swayed by Azula's propaganda I'd offered them incentive to remain loyal to me and ignored their minor transgressions. But if they were leading the rebellion against me I shouldn't be trying to bribe them, I should be punishing them for their disobedience. However now was not the time to act; I and most of my advisors were too tired from today's activities to determine which generals were acting against me and what their punishments should be. I would do this tomorrow.

*********** Earth Kingdom Forest ************

On the day we escaped from Nanjing we were able to travel towards Hangzhou without any problems. Our journey was fairly slow because Azula had very little stamina and tired quickly, so we need to frequently stop so that she could rest (though not as frequently as when we were travelling from the Fort to Dairen). Even though Azula was only carrying the blanket she stole from the Nayami and not any of the camping equipment or food she always tired before the rest of us.

Though I don't know how Azula acted when we were walking (I was leading, so I was at the front, while Ty Lee and Azula were at the back) when we stopped I noticed her acting oddly. Firstly Azula never sat close to us, she sat a short distance away from us but close enough to hear what we were saying. Secondly whenever we tried to talk to her she tried to end the conversation. Thirdly she took an intense interest in everything we did and spent most of her time carefully watching us, especially when we prepared food or got water. Fourthly she became very suspicious when we split up (such as when we gathered firewood) or if one of us moved somewhere where she couldn't see them (such as behind a tree). Even though her Firebending hadn't gotten any stronger, if anything it seemed to be weaker, we all felt uneasy around her.

The next day we had a new problem, a large number of Fire Nation soldiers on Komodo Rhinos descended on this area. I had Toph use her Earthbending to determine where they were heading. Toph monitored them and told me that they were moving slowly through the forest in a straight-line formation. Since they seemed to be combing the forest it was likely that they didn't know exactly where we were but had a general idea. As long as they couldn't find us they'd remain spread out in the forest, making it easier to avoid them. Fighting them would be unwise because they had greatly outnumbered us and it would reveal exactly where we were (even if we managed to win today they could call in a larger number of reinforcements tomorrow). For the rest of the day we either took long detours around them or had Toph use her Earthbending to make a hole that we could hide in until they'd passed. Azula's weak stamina made avoiding them exceptionally difficult because when she became tired we were unable to manoeuvre around the Fire Nation soldiers, so we either had to carry her or hide underground. We couldn't move freely until the evening, when the soldiers started to move away from us (most likely they were returning to their camp). Once they were a safe distance away from us we tried to get as far away from them as possible.

When we finally stopped to set up our camp for the evening we were all tired and hungry. After we ate dinner I checked our progress and realised that we had only covered a quarter of the distance we'd planned to. If this continued we'd run out of food before we reached Hangzhou. If we can't lose the Fire Nation soldiers we may need to sleep during the day and travel at night so we can avoid them.

***********************

My situation keeps getting worse. Firstly this blanket barely keeps me warm during the day. Secondly I still don't know how they're poisoning me (I checked everything they did and I didn't see them add anything suspicious to my food or see them take an antidote). Thirdly the Fire Nation soldiers are making me look like major hindrance. If this continues this group will kill me just so they can travel quicker (Zuko's got to be behind this, he's trying to make them do his dirty work for him). I need to modify my plan.

In my original plan I'd pretend my Fire Bending was weak, so they wouldn't consider me a danger, and take regular breaks when walking so that I wouldn't become too tired (I needed to be ready when my chance came). How I would kill them would depend upon the terrain but ideally it would be at night when they were sleeping, since they would be more vulnerable (the poison they used to prevent me sleeping would work against them). I'd steal their money and food, walk a short distance from them, then set the forest on fire. Even if the fire didn't kill them it would prevent them from following me. However I couldn't do this anywhere. Since I can only walk short distances I could get caught in the fire as well. To prevent this I needed escape to somewhere to that wouldn't burn (a mountain, a cave, a coast, even a grass field would do). Since the trip was meant to take a week I thought that sooner or later I'd find what I needed.

However the arrival of Zuko's soldiers has ruined everything (Zuko will pay dearly for this). Since I'm the slowest and I don't carry anything this group won't lose anything by killing me. Killing me would benefit them since they'll have less people to feed. They'd just need my severed head to prove that I'm dead. NO, I need to stop thinking like this, I need to concentrate on escaping. They probably won't kill me unless they have another day of trying to avoid Zuko's soldiers and they believe that they'll also be running from these soldiers the next day as well. So I'll need to escape before then, convince them that the soldiers won't continue to follow them, or come up with a plan to escape the soldiers. Wait, I already have an escape plan. If I can convince them that setting the forest on fire is the best way to escape the soldiers they'll help me with it, then I can betray them and burn them along with the soldiers. Another day of harassment by Zuko's soldiers and I can remove all my enemies in one go.

***********************

Though we set out early the Fire Nation soldiers soon caught up to us and we spent most of the morning trying to avoid them (I don't know how they keep finding us). This not only annoyed me but also Suki, Toph, and even Ty Lee. However Azula seemed very happy about this and was grinning like an imp (I hope she's not having a mental break down, we can't handle that as well).

As we travelled through the forest we passed by a village. I didn't want to get too close to it in case they got attacked by the Fire Nation soldiers or betrayed us to them, so we skirted around the village. While we stopped so that Azula could rest Toph detected someone coming towards us. I looked over the bush we were hiding behind to see who was apporaching us and saw it was just a Fire Nation girl (most likely from the nearby village). Judging by the way she was looking at the nearby plants she was probably gathering herbs. Since she wasn't a threat to us we decided to stay hidden, rather then try to move. We continued resting for a few minutes, then Toph sensed some Komodo Rhinos and a cart heading towards us very quickly. I had Toph create a hole and we all hid in it. The Komodo Rhinos came closer to where were, then we heard a male voice shout.

"Surrender Azula, we've got you surrounded."

This was what I'd been dreading every since I saw them in Nanjing, having to face the Fire Nation army. We'd all need to work together if we were to have any chance of winning.

"I'm not Azula, my name's Ruikei, I live in Kusa village," a girl (Ruikei?) said, she sounded frightened.

"You can't lie your way out of this, you're coming with us," another male voice said.

"No, let me go. I'm not Azula, ask anyone in Kusa village, they'll tell you I'm Ruikei," screamed Ruikei, she sounded like she was crying.

"Take her to the carriage," the first male voice said.

As we listed to the girl cry and struggle as she was dragged away I realised what had happened. The girl we saw picking herbs had been mistake for Azula. We had to save her but attacking an unknown number of Fire Nation soldiers would be dangerous and would reveal our location to them. We'd have to handle this very carefully.

"I have a plan," Azula suddenly whispered.

"What?" what was Azula planning?

"I can rescue that girl. Send me up to the surface and I'll trick the guards. When I want you to attack I'll shoot a fireball straight up into the air. Until then stay here."

"Azula what are you …"

"There's no time for this, hurry up and send me up there."

"Alright, Toph create a path up."

Notes:

When I finished writing this chapter it was so long that I decided to cut it in half and release it as two chapters (parts 1 and 2).

1) I've modified the **** line to show where the speaker is. If the line doesn't state a location they're in a similar location as the previous speaker.

2) Most of the Fire Nation soldiers are on standby in the colonies (either guarding major cities, forts, or in army barracks), with a small number allotted to the various general. If a general need additional soldiers they need to request them from Zuko (Zuko can approve or reject these requests).

3) The code that Zuko uses works as follows:

A) The person wraps a long, thin piece of paper at an angle around a rod and writes their message on it (usually multiple lines).

B) They unwrap the paper, leaving a long piece of paper with seemingly random letters on it.

C) The message can only be read by someone with a similar shaped rod to wrap it around (Zuko had two rods of the same size made so that Sokka could use this code).

4) Ruikei is Japanese for 'similar shape' and Kusa is Japanese for grass.


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Trouble in the forest: part 2**

Toph created a path and Azula walked up it. Once out of the hole she went around the bush and headed towards the soldiers. I peeked to over the bush and saw two Fire Nation soldiers holding Ruikei, three more Fire Nation soldiers on Komodo Rhinos (one wore different armour than the others), and a fourth Komodo Rhino with a metal box on wheels attached to it (the 'carriage' they mentioned). When I asked Toph how many soldiers were out there she said there were two soldiers on the ground and nine Komodo Rhinos (one with a cart attached to it). I hope Azula knows what she's doing.

As Azula headed towards the soldiers one of the soldiers on a Komodo Rhino shouted at her to stop. She obeyed. The soldier who shouted at her rode over to Azula and said something and Azula responded (we were too far away to hear what they were saying). Azula then walked towards the 'carriage' where the other soldiers had just thrown Ruikei. She then stopped, turned to one of the soldiers on the ground and said something. This annoyed him and he began shouting and pointing inside the cage. Azula then laughed, said something, then walked into the cage. The soldiers then closed the door and locked it. Then one of the ground soldiers went over the mounted soldiers and said something, then moved where I couldn't see him. The carriage then started to move and the soldier in different armour followed it, while the three remaining soldiers on the Komodo Rhinos stared at the forest. I was trying to figure out what Azula was planning when the soldiers suddenly started shooting fire balls at the forest around them. When it caught fire they quickly rode away.

It took me a few second to realise what had happened. Azula had let herself get captured and had used the soldiers to try to kill us. I don't know why she'd done this to us but now was not the time to wonder about this, now was the time to run before we're burned alive. We all ran away as fast as we could, in the opposite direction Azula was travelling in.

***********************

As I saw the forest burning through the small viewing hole in the back of this cage I knew everything had gone according to plan. I was free from that group and heading towards a rebel army base. I first suspected something when the soldiers insisted on capturing that girl even though it would be fairly easy to determine whether she was me or not. It was as if they didn't care who they captured as long as they looked like me. Someone working for Zuko wouldn't do that because capturing the wrong person wouldn't stop me. But if the soldiers in the rebel army had been ordered to find someone who looked like me they'd want to capture as many look-a-likes as possible. Being captured by the rebel army would be the perfect was to escape this group and learn about the rebel army. I couldn't let this chance slip by.

Once I'd convinced the others to let me go talk to them I headed for the nearest soldier. As I approached him I noticed that that this group had a scout with them (they wear lighter armour so they can travel faster and move easier). As scouts are trained in tracking this would explain how the soldiers kept finding us. Their specialised nature also indicates that this group was specifically designed to hunt people, rather than rob them.

When I got near enough to the guard he told me to stop and came over to examine me. Since there couldn't be two Azulas if he was working for Zuko he'd become confused and try to determine which of us was the real Azula. But when he saw me he didn't seem surprised that there was another Azula, so it was highly likely he'd captured other girls who looked like me. He then told me to get in the 'carriage' and I responded by asking where I was being taken. When he didn't tell me I knew that he wasn't working for Zuko. Someone working for Zuko wouldn't try to hide what they were doing since their actions were legal, but those acting outside the law are naturally secretive because they know what they're doing is illegal.

Of course there are several groups involved in questionable activities and I needed to be sure this was the rebel army and not slave trader. As I approached the 'carriage' I said to a soldier that "When the Fire Lord learns that you're working for Azula your punishment will be severe". The look of shock on his face told me that I was correct (if I was wrong he's look confused and ask why I'd said such a strange thing, since he claimed to be hunting Azula not working for her). Now that I'd found what I was looking for and a way to escape I just needed to punish that group for poisoning me. As I entered the 'carriage' I told the same soldier that I was travelling with a group of Earthbenders who wouldn't let any harm come to me. As I predicted they set the forest on fire to kill any Earthbenders and to ensure that they couldn't be followed. One soldier even mocked me, claiming that no one would come to 'rescue' me. That fool, I don't need rescuing.

Now for the final part of my plan, changing clothes with Ruikei. Ruikei had broken down by the door and was sobbing uncontrollably (she looked so pathetic). Though my first instinct was to shout at her to shut up (her whining annoyed me) she was a similar size to me and was wearing Fire Nation clothes; if I wanted to convince her to exchange clothes with me I'd need to act friendly. Given how upset she was this would be easy as I just had to convince her that I could get her out of this. I walked over to her, sat down on the floor beside her and said.

"There's no need to cry."

This didn't make any difference to Ruikei but I had to get her attention focused on me somehow.

"Well I guess it's different for me, since I'm from the Earth Kingdom they'll probably realise that I'm not Azula and send me home."

"Shut up," Ruikei shouted at me. Now I had her attention.

"Don't worry I'm sure you'll survive, prison isn't that bad."

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

"Unless you can buy your way out."

"What are you talking about?" Ruikei was still crying and was looking at me a little confused.

Now I had her attention. I lowered my voice and said.

"If you can pay my price I'll sell you my clothes, then you'll be the one who's released," the way her eyes lit up told me that she believed every word of this, "How much do you have?"

"I only have 30 copper coins on me but my parents can pay you more," Ruikei whispered, she sounded frantic.

"It'll cost you 30 silver coins," I doubted I'd get the money but it would seem odd if I sold my clothes for so little money.

"What! My family doesn't have that kind of money."

"If you don't want my clothes…"

"Alright you'll get your money. I don't know how but we'll manage somehow. You have to trust me."

"Glad we could reach an agreement. Okay, first we need to swap clothes, then I'll need to know about you so I can fool the guards."

We then swapped clothes. I kept my underwear because I didn't want to wear a peasants underwear, my belt because her clothes were too big for me (even with the blanket wrapped round my waist), and my shoes because her shoes were all worn out. Changing clothes had three benefits; firstly I got rid of those poisoned clothes, secondly I got a new disguise, thirdly the guards would mistake Ruikei for me and torture her for information about spying and Earthbenders in the Fire Nation Colonies. Now I just needed to know about her and I could establish a false identity.

"Now that we've changed clothes I'll need to know all about you; such as where you live, the names of your close family members and friends, where you've been, and whether you have a job."

Ruikei told me all about herself, her family (mother, father, older brother, and younger sister), the village she lived in (Kusa), and that she was training to make medicine (she was going to take over from her grandmother). This was all dull but I'd need to remember it if I was going to pretend I was her. Since she wasn't lying it seemed obvious that she believed that I really was going to help her escape in exchange for a small amount of money. She was a fool trusting someone she'd just met and thinking that they were her friend. She'll soon learn the hard way that no one can be trusted and that in the end they'll always betray you.

Once Ruikei had finished talking she asked for information about me so that she could pretend to be from the Earth Kingdom. Given that she would tell this story to the guards I decided to make it confusing and threatening. I said my name was Joo Dee and I was working with a group of Earthbenders called Dai Lee who were hunting bandits. I also gave her some details of fake bases near Nanjing. If the guards thinks she's telling the truth they'll search for these bases rather than guard me (the fewer soldiers at the base the easier it will be for me to get to the leader of this group). Next I explained that Fire Nation interrogations may seem harsh but if she just kept repeating what I told her she'd be fine (I didn't want her to tell them that we'd changed clothes before the soldiers had left to search for the fake bases). That fool Ruikei believed every word of it. When I was done explaining I told her that if the soldiers see us talking they might suspect we'd exchanged clothes (this was to keep her quiet for the rest of the trip).

The trip didn't last much longer and eventually the 'carriage' stopped. I heard a large door open then we started moving again. Since we'd soon be taken out of the 'carriage' I whispered to Ruikei that she should insist on being interrogated immediately because she'll get released quicker. This was to ensure that the soldiers knew about the fake bases and we weren't together when her Earth Kingdom clothes didn't result in her being immediately released.

The 'carriage' stopped, the doors were opened and we were ordered out. As I stepped out I looked around to try to determine where I was. I was in some sort of stone fort run by Fire Nation soldiers. There were two things wrong with this; firstly almost all Fire Nation forts were made out of metal, stone was used in Earth Kingdom forts; and secondly this fort didn't look like an old Earth Kingdom fort it looked new. Had the Earth Kingdom given Zuko forts for the colonies? No that seemed unlikely, since the Earth Kingdom wanted the colonies returned to them. So who built this fort?

"Let's go," a male voice said.

I looked at the soldier, who was pointing towards a door in the central keep. I looked round and saw Ruikei being lead off in another direction. Since I didn't need to give Ruikei any more instructions I followed the soldier into the keep, through a barracks, and down into a cellar. As we approached the cells I asked one of my guards why my hands hadn't been bound (prisoners hands were always bound when they were outside their cells). He responded that he had been ordered not to bind the hands of anyone who looked like Azula. This puzzled me for a second, then I realised the logic behind it. As my blue flames are easy to recognise they were leaving the hands free of all the Azula look-a-likes in the hope that the real one would reveal herself. Clever but not clever enough.

When we got to my cell the guards opened the door and I enter it. I wouldn't be here too long. Once Ruikei admits that she changed clothes with me they'll come and get me for questioning. That's when they'll open the door and I can escape.

Notes:

1) A Keep is the central tower of a castle.


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: The Western Castle**

*********** Fire Nation Colonial Castle ************

My cell was of Fire Nation design, a metal cage in a stone room with an outer wooden door. After I was put in my cell and the guard left several of the girls in the other cells asked me questions about who I was, why I was here, and some questions about what was happening where they lived. I lied and said I was called Ruikei, I'd been mistaken for Azula, and I didn't know the answer to any the other questions (why would I know about what's happening where they're from). After I'd finished talking one of the girls (I couldn't see her since the door blocked my view of the corridor) said that all the girls here had been mistaken for Azula and no one knew why they were here. As they'd been in here longer than me I decided to asked them some questions about this place.

Unfortunately the only things I learned about this place were that the soldiers called it the Western Castle and it was run by a Colonel (they didn't know who he was). The only other things I learned were that when the cells became full the guards would take a girl for interrogation but would never bring her back, and there were two guys in the cells (neither of them had been mistaken for me). When I asked them why they were here they both said that they didn't know. From the pitch of their voices I could tell that one was about my age, the other was much older, and both were lying about not knowing why they were here. Since it wasn't important why they were here I didn't inquire any further.

As it was late and I was still feeling unwell I decided to rest. I unwrapped the blanket from around my waist, put it under the blanket that was in my cell, and went to sleep. I don't know how long I slept but I was a woken by a loud noise. When I asked what that noise was a girl replied that it was time for the evening meal. I quickly hid my second blanket under my cell's blanket (the guards would definitely confiscate it if they saw it). A shot time later a guard open the outer door of my cell, came in, put a tray of food by the bars of my cage, then left. The food seemed to be a noodle dish, some bread, and cup of cold tea; hardly befitting a princess. However I knew that I would have to endure this until I was able to escape. Nevertheless I had no intention of eating cold food, so I heated it up using my Firebending before eating it. While eating I heard some of the girls talking but couldn't make out what they were saying. I'd have to learn to ignore this chatter if I wanted to get any sleep.

After eating my food I decided to wait until the guard collected my tray before going to sleep. While I was waiting I kept thinking about Poppy Tea and how good it made me feel. It was hard to resist these urges but I needed to resist them. If I want to escape I need to be alert at all times, I didn't have time to relax. Eventually the guard came and took my tray. After he left I pulled my blankets over myself and went to sleep. Even though some of the girls were still talking I found it much easier to get to sleep in here.

When I woke up the next morning my stomach pains had almost completely disappeared. I don't know whether it was because they had been secretly poisoning my food or because I changed my clothes but as I was recovering so soon after leaving them they must of been poisoning me. Running away from them was the right decision. However I wasn't just going to sit around waiting to get better, I didn't have the time to do that. If I wanted to escape I would need to resume my training immediately.

Before I could resume my training I'd need to know exactly what condition my body was in. First I tested my stamina by performing sit ups and push ups; both of these tired me more quickly than normal and took longer. Then I tested my Firebending by shooting fireballs through the bars of the cage at the opposing wall. Though it was easier to concentrate now that I wasn't being poisoned the power of my fire was only half of what it once was and I tired far more quickly than normal. Finally I tested my lighting, this worked first time but it took me longer than normal to separate my chi. While I recovered from these exercises I assessed my current fighting capacity. Since I was now much slower, weaker, and had less stamina I should avoid fighting until I was stronger. My best weapon was my lighting since it was just as deadly even in my current state. Consequently I decided to focus solely on lighting training.

I practised firing my lighting into the bars of my cage again and again until late in the evening, only stopping when I was too tired to stand or a guard came by with food. It was hard work but I was now able to separate my positive and negative chi, and recombine it much faster. Though my lighting was now a deadly weapon again it had a fatal flaw. Since I needed some time to separate and recombine my chi before I could fire my lighting I was very vulnerable between lighting bolts. Normally Firebenders used their Firebending to protect themselves until they can find a safe place to separated and recombined their chi but my weakened Firebending would be insufficient.

Fortunately my father had tried to develop a way to remove this vulnerability. He had first mastered firing lighting out of both hands, then mastered firing one lighting bolt while delaying the other. This enabled him to continuously shoot lighting for a short period of time before the pain caused by storing lighting in his body became too great. It was unlikely that I'd have enough time to master continuously shooting lighting but if I could master shooting lighting with both hands I could attack two guards at once. But before I could shoot lighting with both hands I need to be able to shoot it out of my left hand. As it was very late I decide to resume my training at first light tomorrow.

At dawn I practised shooting lighting from my left hand. After some practise I was able to shoot lighting out of my left hand but I had little control over where it went. Though after practising for the rest of the day I was able to shoot lighting more accurately, but not as accurately as I could using my right hand. Though I could increase my left hand's accuracy by practising more tomorrow this would be a waste of my time, since my goal was shoot lighting from both hands not accurately from my left hand. As this would be difficult and it was already after dark I decided to have an early night and start practising in the morning.

Again I awoke at dawn and began by shooting lighting out of my right hand, then my left. I was able to do both with ease. Now I would see whether I could shoot lighting out of both of my hands at the same time. As a precaution I would only create enough lighting for a normal lighting bolt in case I was only able to shoot it out of one arm (I didn't want any excess lighting remaining in my body). I separated my chi, recombined it, then began channelling the released energy along my arms. Most of the lighting came out of my right hand, though a little came out of my left. I tried again, this time trying to channel more energy to my left hand. The is resulted in a slightly large lighting bolt coming out of my left hand but the one coming out of my right hand still most of the energy. I practised again and again, trying to produce two lighting bolts of identical size.

It wasn't until the afternoon that I was finally able to get it right, though my accuracy was low since I was trying to channel the energy in two different directions at the same time. Unless I attacked two guard at close range I won't be able to hit either of them. Though my lack of accuracy may be due to a lack of energy, since I'm only using the amount of chi needed to create one lighting bolt. It I separated and recombined more chi when creating my lighting bolts they may become more accurate. I then spent the rest of the day trying to create more powerful lighting bolts. Unfortunately by the evening I had only managed to create two lightning bolts that were 75% as powerful as a normal lighting bolt and my accuracy was still low. This lighting would be no use in combat. I would need to train extra hard tomorrow if I wanted to get this right.

The next morning I got up at dawn and practised shooting lighting bolts out of both of my hands. I continued practising until midmorning when the guards suddenly came to our cells. As it was too early for lunch they must want something.

"Ladies it's interrogation time, who wants to come with us today?" a male voice said.

Nobody said anything. Most seemed afraid to volunteer in case they'd be tortured then killed to prevent them talking about this place. However I wasn't weak like them, if I could kill the guards with my lighting after I got out of my cell I'd be free. Though it would be risky, since I couldn't control my lighting perfectly, I couldn't let this chance slip by.

"I'll go," I said.

*********** Fire Nation Royal Palace ************

Examining hundreds of Fire Nation accounts for evidence of embezzlement was a long and gruelling process, made even more difficult by the large number of doctored reports. But eventually I identified 4 governors and 3 generals who were exceptionally corrupt and had hidden their corruption poorly. After finding evidence of their corruption I had issued orders for them to come before me and explain the inaccuracies in their reports. If they were unable to explain these inaccuracies they would lose their position and be imprisoned. Punishing them would send a clear message that I would no longer tolerate corruption and reassert my authority in the Colonies.

I was also suspicious of the large numbers of soldiers recently requested by the generals in the northern part of the colonies. Their reports stated that Azula was leading a campaign of terror in the north but according to Sokka Azula isn't leading anything. If this is a lie then why do the generals want the soldiers? Though they could use the soldiers to conquer the Earth Kingdom areas the soldiers they've requested are more suitable for scouting than fighting, so what are they trying to find? The Kyoshi Warriors, they're hunting the Kyoshi Warriors. If they've found proof that Azula is a puppet then they must have found something the generals don't want me to know about, that's why the generals are hunting them. I have to help them but I don't want to let my general know that I know what they're really doing. Revoking their command over the soldiers would be too obvious, I need to be more subtle. If I issued an order requiring all scouts to receive special training and require the generals to audit all their soldiers this would remove the scouts from the generals and reduce the number of soldiers that they can dispatch because soldiers being trained and undergoing audits are excused from regular duties. I immediately issued the order, only hoping that I'm not too late.

Notes:

1) Azula's stomach pains and sleeping problems disappear because the physical withdrawal symptoms of opium only last for 8-12 days after the last dose. It is unrelated to her leaving the Kyoshi Warriors or going to the Western Castle.

2) The metal bars of Azula's cage attract the lighting she shoots, she's not deliberately aiming at the cage. Also she doesn't electrocute herself because there are no bars on the floor of her cage and she's not stupid enough to touch the metal cage while shooting lighting into it. Since the lighting will quickly be earthed by the stone surrounding the cage, so no one will get a shock if they touch the bars.


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: Battle in the Western Castle: part one**

My cell door opened and a guard came in. He opened the door to my cage and ordered me out. I pretended that my left foot was injured and limped out. I decided to feign and injury so that the guards would think I was injured and expect me to walk behind them. From behind they wouldn't see me charging my lighting.

Outside my cell there was an officer with a scar above his left eye and another guard. The officer moved close to me and said

"Follow us, if you try to escape you'll be harshly punished."

As if I'd be scared by that. The officer then turned round and started walking towards the door at the end of the cell block, the guard following him. I limped after them with the guard who open my cell following us (since he had the keys to the cells he was probably the jailor). I decided to walk slower than normal, so that the jailor could overtake me, then I'd charge my lighting and fry the jailor and the guard. I'll leave the officer alive, since he'll be able to provide me with information about this castle. The jailor was just about to pass me when the officer turned round. He looked at me and marched towards me, an angry look on his face. He then lifted his right hand and slapped me on my left cheek, while shouting.

"What are you doing, walk properly."

No one had ever hit me before. I would be not be treated this way! That officer will die for his insolence. I glared at him while the jailor opened the door to this cell block. Once we'd left the cells the jailor went left to his room, and the officer and guard turned right and continued walking towards the stairs that lead to the guard's barrack. Now that there was only two of them and their backs were to me I began separating my chi. I walked close to them, so that I wouldn't miss them (there wouldn't be a second chance). Then suddenly the officer turned round. I instantly recombined my chi and channelled the energy down my arms. I shot one lighting bolt into the guard's back and the other into the officer's arms (he tried to protect himself by folding his arms over his chest, as if that would save him). Both screamed, then fell down dead.

I then heard someone running behind me, and some screaming and shouting. Most likely the jailor had heard the screams and was coming to investigate, and the screaming and shouting was from the other girls. If the jailor attacked me in my weakened state there's a good chance I'd be beaten, I needed to distract him long enough to create another lighting bolt. Given that he didn't know what had happened I decided to confuse him. I turned round and started running towards him screaming:

"He attacked us, he's back there."

"What are talking about, who's there," the jailor replied, clearly confused.

I ran to the jailor's left hand side then started waving my left arm in the direction of where I just ran from. The jailor looked down where I was pointing, trying to see what was there. While he was distracted I moved behind him and began separating my chi.

"What happened?" the jailor asked without turning round.

"He attacked them with that," I replied, while recombining my chi.

"With what?" said the jailor as he turned round to face me.

"This," I replied, shooting a bolt of lighting into him.

The jailor screamed and fell down dead. Once he hit the ground I ran towards the stairs because if any of the guards above had heard the screams they'd hurry down here to investigate. By the time I reached the stairs I was breathing heavily and had to lean against the wall to support myself (in my weakened state I had almost no stamina). I leaned against the wall by the stairs and waited, listening for the sounds of footsteps. While waiting I began separating my chi, so that I'd instantly be able to shoot another lighting bolt into anyone who came down. However the only noise I heard was the screams of the girls down the hall and my own heavy breathing; no one else was coming down here. For the moment I was safe.

Now that I didn't need to worry about being attacked I headed back to the corpses. I turned around and walked towards the officer, keeping my right hand on the wall for support. When I reached him I fired the lighting bolt I'd prepared into his left cheek, as an additional punishment. I then sat down on the floor and began searched his pockets for anything useful. I found four key and a coin pouch containing three silver coins and twelve copper coins. Neither the guard nor jailor was carrying anything. Though I had three sets of Fire Nation armour I was too short and thin to wear them, so it would be obvious I was pretending to be a guard. However this armour was too good to just ignore, especially when I it was highly likely I would be spending the rest of the day fighting. Though it would be a little more weight to carry I decided to take one of the cuirasses and a pair of vambraces for protection (I didn't take the boots because they were too big for me). I took the cuirass from the officer because it was slightly smaller than the guards' (the cuirass the officers wore was made to fit their body, while the guards wore generic cuirasses). I also took the officer's hair tie (he wouldn't be needing it).

Now that I had I finished looting the corpses I could begin the next part of my plan; capturing the Colonel. Though I could just walk out of here, find the kitchen, and force a servant to show me where the Colonel was there was a high risk of being recaptured. If I wanted to move about freely I would need a distraction; fortunately I had several people who could distract the guards. Now that I'd recovered my strength I stood up and headed back towards the cells, briefly going into the jailor's room to get the keys to the cells (I'd check it for anything useful later). I opened the door to the cells and stepped in. All the girls were trying to talk at once, asking what was happening and shouting their guesses. I would need to get their attention.

"Be quiet, be quiet now," I shouted.

The girls stopped shouting and started listening to me. Now to give them an ultimatum.

"I have managed to overpower the guards and I now have the keys to the cells. You have a choice; join me and escape, or remain here and rot."

Since this was greeted with shouts of 'let us out' and begging it was obvious they'd help me. However opening all the cells was beneath me, I would have someone else do it.

"I'm going to keep watch, so I'll need someone to let everyone out. Who wants to volunteer to do this?"

"I'll do it," a girl instantly replied.

I went over to her and after trying several keys I was able to open her cell and cage doors. We then went out of the cell and I gave her the keys. She then began opening all the cells, while I went to the jailor's room to search for anything useful. When I got to the jailor's room I saw that it just contained some chairs and a desk covered with papers. I sat on the chair behind the desk and began searching through the desk and papers. I managed to find a map of the castle and was studying it when a man in Fire Nation clothes came into the room holding the ring of keys.

"Who are you?" I demanded.

"I'm one of the prisoners, I came to tell you that we're all out of our cells," he replied.

"I'll be out in a moment."

I picked up the map and went out of the jailor's room. Outside there was the man in Fire Nation clothes, a boy about my age, and 15 girls of my age with black hair and gold coloured eyes (most barely resembled me). They all looked at me, expecting me to save them from this place. They also seemed afraid, probably because of the three dead bodies behind them. This mixture of fear and awe would make it easy to manipulate them. But first I needed to know if they had any useful abilities.

"If we want to escape we may need to fight the guards; who among you knows how to bend or fight?" I asked.

"I'm a Firebender," the man said.

No one else was a bender or knew how to fight. I wasn't surprised, if they knew how to fight or bend they wouldn't have been captured. Not that this mattered, they just had to distracted the guards long enough for me to reach the Colonel. I'd then hold him hostage until I was given as much food, water, and money as a Komodo Rhinos could carry (along with a Komodo Rhino to escape on). However no one needed to know this.

"If we want to escape we have to capture their leader and force him to release us. However he's heavily guarded, so I'll need you to cause a distraction so I can defeat him." I explained.

Predictably this upset several of the girls, who thought it would be too dangerous. I quickly silenced them by reminding them that the only alternative was to go back into their cells. I then reassured them but saying that the guards wouldn't hurt them, as they wanted them alive. Next I showed them the map and explained my plan in more detail, constantly reminding them that they weren't in any real danger (they needed to believe this or they wouldn't help me). Part way through my explanation Kegatsu (the man who could Firebend) offered to put on some Fire Nation armour and pretend to be a guard. Though I didn't want him to pretend to be a guard, as this would allow him to easily escape or betray me, the rest of the girls and the boy wanted him to pretend to be a guard so that he could convince the other guards not to hurt them. Since they were more willing to obey my orders if there was a fake guard with them I let him wear the guard's armour. He then carried one of the dead guards back into the cells and got changed. While he was changing I finished explaining my plan and convinced everyone to cause a distraction for me.

When Kegatsu emerged everyone walked towards the stairs. As he walked past me I smelled burned flesh and realised why he wanted to take the whole guard to the cells, rather than the armour. If he exchanged clothes with the guard, then burned the guard's face everyone would think it was he and not the guard who was dead. I also noticed that he seemed to move easily in the armour he was wearing. If was used to this armour he was probably a guard or soldier that had committed some crime and was being punished for it.

As we got near to the corpses several of the girls were very nervous about walking past them (did they think they were suddenly going to come back to life and attack them). After I confidently walked past the corpses they soon followed. When we reached the stairs I told the girls that '' and I would go out first to check that there weren't any guards nearby. Fortunately there weren't any guards in their barracks at the top of the stairs. I told Kegatsu to check the end of the corridor for guards. He obeyed and went over there to check, I followed him. While he was checking I walked over to him, created a small fireball at the tips of my fingers, put it next to his throat, and told him that if he betrayed me he'd meet the same fate as the other guards. He said he wouldn't betray me (the fear in his voice was obvious). Now that I had total control over this group I called the rest of the girls up here.

After they arrived we split up. They headed out of the barracks, down the corridor, and went outside to cause a distraction in the courtyard; while I would waited here. I would remain here until the guards went outside to stop them, then I would head to the kitchens to find a servant who could tell me where the Colonel was and provide me with the keys needed to get to him. What happened this day would determine whether I would escape, or be captured and executed.

Notes:

1) The cuirass is the armour that protects the torso, while the vambrace protects the forearms. The Fire Nation soldiers do not wear gauntlets because these only cover the hands. The 'hair tie' is the item people of the Fire Nation use to tie their hair into a topknot.

2) 'Kegatsu' is Japanese for dishonour.


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: Battle in the Western Castle: part two**

As I was waiting for the guards to go to the courtyard I heard someone coming down the corridor. Looking through a crack in the door I saw that it was an old woman carrying a tray with several cups of tea on it. Perfect, she'd be able to provide me with all the information I needed. I went into the corridor and fired a fireball in front of the old woman. When it hit the wall she screamed and fell backwards, the tea went everywhere soaking her. As she tried to stand up I put my foot on her hand. When she looked up I put my hand around her throat and heated it up with some light Firebending. I could see the fear in her eyes.

"If you want to live tell me what I want to know," I ordered.

She started crying but didn't say anything. I increased the heat on her neck.

"Do you understand? Yes or no," I shouted.

"I … I understand. Plea … please don't kill me," she sobbed.

Now that she understood it was time to question her.

"Where's the Colonel?" I asked.

"He left three days ago, with a girl he'd captured the day before," she replied, still crying.

"Where did he go?"

"He went to the PohuaiStronghold."

This was problematic, however it wasn't a fatal problem. The colonel would have had to appoint someone to run this castle while he was absent. I just needed to hold him hostage.

"Who's running the castle?"

"Captain Hidoi is in charge."

"Where can I find him?"

"He went to get a girl for interrogation, so he'll either be in the cells or the interrogation room."

Wait, I killed an officer in the cells who was looking for a girl to interrogate. I needed to know if it was Captain Hidoi.

"Did he have a scar above his eye?"

"Yes, it was over his left eye."

Damn it, I killed the person I needed to hold hostage (thought this was perfectly justified given the circumstances). Now I need to find his second in command and hold him hostage.

"If something happened to the Captain who would be in charge?"

"I don't know, the Colonel or the Captain are the only people who give orders here."

In annoyance I threw the old woman to the ground. This is bad. This is very bad. I can't hold a dead man hostage and there's no one else I can use. I can't defeat all the guards by myself, so fighting isn't an option. As the guards are all in the courtyard trying to sneak out will be difficult; and even if I succeed I'll only be able to escape with a small amount of provisions and without a map of the surrounding area I'll quickly get lost. Surrender is unacceptable. This only left one option; I had to capture the castle.

If I had my royal clothes and armour the guards would all know who I was and obey my every order. However I was wearing a peasant's outfit, guard armour that didn't fit, and was surrounded by girls who the guards all thought looked like me. To convince the guards who I really was I would need to show them an awe inspiring display of my authority. But how best to do this? Well, there was still one place I could search for something useful. I turned to face the old woman, she was cowering against the wall looking at me, still very afraid.

"Take me to the Captain's room."

"Why do you want to …"

"Just do it! Don't try to trick me."

After hearing my order the old woman stood up and walked down the corridor, I followed after her. She moved at a slow pace I didn't tell her to hurry up because if I became tired before we reached the Captain's room the old woman may try to escape. Though the map did show there were some rooms in the tower it did not say who occupied them, so I would need a guide. After walking along a few corridors I followed her up two flights of stairs and along another corridor, until we reached a large wooden door. I turned to the old woman.

"Open it."

"But I don't have key for it."

"Then go get it."

She ran off, back the way we came. I pulled out the four keys I took from the captain. Two were small and silver, one was larger and brown, and one was slender and black. As the lock on the door looked large and strong I tried the black key first. The lock clicked and the door opened. I entered the room, then turned round and locked the doors so that if the old woman had gone to get the guards rather than the keys they wouldn't be able to enter this room without breaking the door down.

The room had a small window and contained a desk with a mirror on it, a bed, and a wardrobe; since this room was neat it would be easy to search this room. I began with the desk, it contained writing equipment but nothing useful. Next I check the wardrobe. Inside I found a grey pair of trousers and a jacket, and a red cloak. Though the trousers and jacket clothes were too big for me, the cloak was large enough to cover my most of my oversized armour and peasant clothes. Now that I was done searching this room it was time to get dressed. I turned to the mirror on the desk and pulled out the hair tie I took from the Captain. It was of mediocre quality, but if I used it to tie my hair in a topknot it would be easier to convince the guards who I really was. However trying to tie my hair into a topknot proved difficult because my hair was so greasy and full of tangles (I would need to wash it a lot after I escaped from here). Eventually I managed to tie my hair into a topknot, then I put on the cloak. Now I looked more like my old self, though I still had a long to go until I would retain my former glory and honour.

Now that I was done with this room I decided to look out the window to see what was happening in the courtyard. I saw that most of the girls had been cornered by the guards. Though this meant that my distraction had now ended with so many guards in one place this would be the best time to announce who I was. I had to get there quickly. Going back the way I came here would be dangerous, especially if that old woman had told the guards that I attacked her. Fortunately there was another way out of this room. A little below the window there was a tile roof. If I stood here I would be visible to everyone in the courtyard, the perfect place to declare who I was. I squeezed through the window and jumped down onto the tile roof.

I easily landed on the roof and walk forwards to midway along the roof. Now that I was clearly visible I just needed to get everyone's attention. One of the Firebending techniques I had learned as a child was how to make my fireball larger at the expense of their power. Though these fireballs had little power they did look more intimidating and were commonly used to break the moral of Earth Kingdom soldiers. This technique would make my blue fire visible to everyone. I shot a volley of large fireballs at the walls of the castle and in the courtyard by the guards. The guards in the courtyard immediately broke formation and turned to look at me. Now to address them.

"I am Azula, Princess of the Fire Nation. Captain Hidoi is dead, either bow before me or suffer the same fate he did." I shouted.

The guards and I started at each other for a moment. If Kegatsu had any sense he would try to convince the other guards to surrender to me. As I was standing there I noticed eight Fire Nation soldiers on Komodo Rhinos approaching the castle from my left. Most likely they'd been patrolling, had seen my blue flames, and had come to investigate. As the gate was locked and the guards won't open it while the girls are still in the courtyard they won't be able to get in without climbing equipment, so I chose to ignore them for the moment. The guards in front of me were the ones I had to control. Though they should obey my orders and surrender I didn't want to leave anything to chance. I fired another volley of fireballs, then I began separating enough chi for a lighting bolt, should they decide to fight me (I couldn't use more than one lighting bolt because of my poor accuracy).

After firing the second volley the guards began to scatter, heading towards the keep. This was bad, I needed them where I could see them. I began calling out to them to stay here and bow before me when I heard a large crash, from my left. I quickly turned my head to see what had caused this noise and saw that one of the outer walls had completely collapsed and the Fire Nation soldiers I saw heading towards here were coming through the hole. Since they weren't carrying any equipment capable for destroying that wall they must have used their Firebending. However I wouldn't have been able to break down a wall of that size without the power of Souzin's Comet. This meant that they were incredible strong, too strong for me to fight. Wait, how had they become so strong? If there was a way to gain the power of the comet without it being present why hadn't father used it? This could be very beneficial to me. If an ordinary soldier could gain this much power then what would happen to a protégé like me. I had to find out what they'd done to gain this power no matter the cost.

Notes:

1) 'Hidoi' is Japanese for cruel.

2) PohuaiStronghold is where Aang was taken in 'The Blue Spirit' (Season 1, episode 13).

3) The tile roofs Azula mentions is a part of a Japanese or Chinese castle (I don't know its actual name). Below are links to some Japanese Castles that have several tile roofs coming out of their keeps.

.org/wiki/Japanese_castles

.org/wiki/Himeji_castle

.org/wiki/Fushimi-Momoyama_castle

.org/wiki/Osaka_castle


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: Fire and Earth**

I turned round and headed towards the window I'd climbed through. Since the tile roof was lower than the floor this made getting back through the window much more difficult. Eventually I managed to climbed back through the window. I then headed towards the door and put my ear to it to see if I could hear anyone outside (I didn't want to run into any guards who had missed my performance on the roof, since they wouldn't know who I was). As I couldn't hear anything outside I unlocked the door and stepped into the hall.

The hall was deserted. Good, this would make moving about easier. Though I wanted to know how the soldiers had become so powerful I knew that if I ran down to them I'd end up so tired that I wouldn't be able to stand. An entrance like that would make me look weak and cause the soldiers to question my leadership ability. If I wanted to make a dignified entrance I would need to walk to them. While this would take longer I knew that they would wait because they had come to see me and wouldn't leave until we had met.

After I'd gone down two flights of stairs and was walking along the corridors I heard some people coming towards me. Perfect, this will be a good test of their loyalty. I stopped in front of one of the doors, opened it, then moved to the centre of the hall to wait for who ever was coming towards me. While I was confident that they would show proper respect and obey my orders it would be unwise not to have somewhere I could dodge into should they attack me. When the guards came round the corner I shouted at them.

"Why do you not bow before your princess!"

This seemed to confuse the two guards, since they weren't expecting me to be here. I took a step towards them and looking angry I said.

"Why are you not showing proper respect?"

The guards and I stared at each other for a few seconds then the one on my left asked.

"Are you the real Princess Azula?"

Though this was a perfectly reasonable question I needed to make them feel that they shouldn't be asking questions but should instead be doing my bidding.

"Of course I am. Didn't you see my blue fireball I fired from the tile roof."

The guards looked at each other, then the one on the right spoke.

"Can you create another blue fireball, without wearing your vambraces?"

A simple request that I could do with ease (though I don't know what difference my vambraces are supposed to make). Though I could comply with this a princess doesn't take orders from guards. I'll refuse and demand they obey me, when they promise to obey me if I can produce blue fireballs I'll comply and gain two new servants.

"What right do you have to ask anything of your superiors," I said angrily.

"We merely want some proof that you are the real princess. There are a lot of girls outside who also resemble her." said the guard on the right.

"If I do this will you swear to obey me?"

"Of course," they both replied.

Now that I had established my superiority I just needed to show them my abilities. As they requested I took off my vambraces and handed them to the one on the left. The one on the right also requested that I roll up my sleeves. When I questioned him about this he said that they wanted to ensure I wasn't using any tricks. I complained but rolled up my sleeves (there must be no doubt in their minds that I am the real Azula). I then fired a fireball into the wall on my right. After seeing this they showed that they believed who I was by bowing down.

After I'd put my vambraces back on I ordered them to escort me to the courtyard. As we walked to the courtyard I asked them about the soldiers who had broken through the outer wall. The one on the right said they were waiting outside; however I could tell he was lying. If this was a lie then either he, the other guard, or both of them were the soldiers that had broken through the wall. I proceeded to ask him about how Firebenders could become more powerful but he didn't seem to know and he wasn't lying. Before I could ask his companion about this we had reached the courtyard.

The courtyard was a mess with guards lying unconscious and large pieces of stone everywhere. It seemed that the soldiers that had broken through the wall had easily beaten the guards. I looked round and saw that the girls and boy were behind a stone wall. This was odd since that wall hadn't been there earlier and it seem to have ground out of the ground, as if it was made with Earthbending …. That's it, they're Earthbenders! That's why they were able to break down the stone wall without any specialist equipment. They'd not powerful Firebenders, they're Earthbenders in Fire Nation armour and I just showed them proof that I'm the person they're hunting. I need run now. No, I need to calm down. I can't let them know that that I know who they are. I need a plan. Okay, I'll convince the two Earthbenders to move away from me then run into the castle, throw off my armour, change into anything else I can find, and pretend to be another captured girl who just looks like Azula. Fortunately for me another Earthbender was approaching us. As soon as the two Earthbenders I was with walked forwards to talk with him I ran back into the keep.

Though I tried to run away from them as fast I could I was still much too slow. Before I could even get to the end of the corridor a wall appeared before me. I couldn't escape and I couldn't fight. Since I had no intention of surrendering my only option left was bluffing. Though I was weak and not in control of anything they didn't know this. If I could convince them that they'd lose against me in a fight and that capturing me would cause them to be attacked they'd let me escape. Although the information I'd got from Ty Lee about the rebel army was sketchy it provided enough details for me to make creditable threats. I turned round and to face the Earthbenders (there were three of them) and moved into a battle stance.

"Foolish Earthbenders do you really think you can beat some who once defeated the Avatar. If you even harm a hair on my head my army will destroy your entire village." I spoke in a composed and serious manner.

They stopped and looked at me, they were clearly afraid that I might attack them. Good, if they believe I'm a threat they'll surrender without a fight.

"You don't need to fear us Princess Azula. We're your Dai Lee agents, here to help you escape." said the middle one.

Wait … what? Why are the Dai Lee attacking here, they're supposed to be supporting the rebel army. Does this mean that this is an official Fire Nation castle? Did Zuko order anyone who looks like me to be arrested? No, Zuko wouldn't do that but someone wishing to gain favour him might. So someone wanting to gain favour with Zuko is kidnapping anyone who looks like me to try to find me and the rebel army sent … No that doesn't make any sense either, the rebel army has a fake me so sending soldiers to rescue the real me would expose the fake. Unless they're here to kill me to remove any evidence that a fake is leading the rebel army. That's it they're here to kill me. I need to get rid of them now.

"I don't need you help to escape, I freed myself. Now leave here immediately, I have things I need to do." I demanded.

Though I couldn't see their faces behind their face plates I could tell from their bodies that they had become much more confused. Did they really think I would just walk into a trap with them.

"But Princess we can help you overthrow the fake pretending to be you, so you can claim your rightful place as head of the Fire Nation Defence Army. Don't you want to lead us?" said the middle one, his confusion was obvious.

This makes even less sense. How do they know that the fake Azula is a fake? Did Sokka tell them? Are he and the Kyoshis waiting for me outside? I need to know.

"Who told you that a fake was leading the Fire Nation Defence Army?"

"When we first met her we knew she wasn't you," the one in the middle replied.

"What do you mean, when did you meet the fake?"

"After the Dai Lee were disbanded in Ba Sing Se there were several of us wished who to continue to practise our style of Earthbending. As we could no longer do this in the Earth Kingdom, we went to the Fire Nation colonies to serve in your army. In exchange for joining we requested that we be allowed to meet with you. However the girl they had us meet with was neither terrifying nor inspirational, so we knew it wasn't you. At first we thought that you were testing our loyalty by issuing orders through a body double but as we only received menial tasks …"

"Such as building castles," said the one on my left, interrupting the middle one.

"and digging tunnels," added the one on my right.

"We started questioning whether it was really you, since you always treated us as equals. As time wore on and no one ever mentioned the real Azula we became convinced that you were not leading this army. So we tried to find you so that you could become our leader and expose the fake."

Do they really think I can't see through there story. The only reason they want me to be their leader is because they think I'll treat them better. If they'd hadn't been given menial tasks they wouldn't even care about me. I'd be unwise to trust them, since they'll betray me as soon as the fake offers them better terms. They only useful thing they can do is provide me with information.

"When you met the fake, who was with her?"

"I don't know, there were three of them but they wore masks and addressed each other by code names. The fake said their identities had to be kept secret."

"Were you able to find out who they really where?"

"No they're only addressed by their codenames."

So whoever is really leading the Defence Army is trying to keep their identity secret. Fortunately I know where their base is.

"Who is in charge of the PohuaiStringhold?"

"No one is currently in charge of it."

"How can no one be in charge of it!?"

"It currently serves as the colonies' headquarters; informing the Governors of the Fire Lord's decrees, controlling all the administration, and army and naval dispatchments. Currently it is controlled by a Council and the Fire Lord has forbidden them to have a leader."

Zuko forbid them to have a leader? He must be worried that I would convince the leader to obey me (not that I couldn't convince a council to obey me). So it's highly likely that the Colonel has gone to see one or more of the Council members, but I don't know who. The Dai Lee are no help, if they wanted me to be their leader they could of at least got me some useful information. Wait, how did they know where I was?

"How did you know I was here?"

"We saw your blue fireballs from outside the castle."

"Then why were you outside the castle."

"Nearly a week ago the Defence Army leaders suddenly started panicking and increased their activity throughout the colonies. Though they tried to hide what they were doing an Earth Kingdom smuggling gang informed us that girls matching your description were being kidnapped throughout the colonies. We then realised you had come to the colonies and our leaders where hunting you. The smugglers told us that this castle was one of the places where the girls were being taken, so we've been staying at their camp outside watching the castle."

They're not lying about this, so they don't know where I was kept. But the smuggler part is definitely odd. Why would smugglers want to help the Dai Lee?

"Why are the smugglers helping you, what's in it for them?"

"We offered them information about Fire Nation patrols, so they could sneak their good into the colonies. Their leader, the Queen of Smugglers, also has a keen interest in the Fire Nation Royal family."

"What do you mean by 'interest'?"

"She's constantly trying to find out any information she can about the Royal family. She's especially interested in meeting you."

"Why does she want to meet me?"

"She originally wanted to talk to you about the Defence Army but when we told her we suspected a fake was in charge she offered to help us look for you. We haven't been able to determine why but she doesn't want revenge or to hold you for ransom."

Being fascinated by the royalty is fairly common, after all we're royalty. Though her interest in me is odd. If she doesn't want revenge, a ransom, or something the Defence Army can provide then why the interest? Though this could be a trap it also has a lot of opportunities. If I can overthrow this Queen and taking control of her gang I can obtain her wealth and secret shipping routes (which will make travelling around the Colonies easier). Then I can attack this castle again with her gang and more Dai Lee, capture the Colonel, and make him tell me who he met with. It's time to meet this Queen.

"How long will it take to reach this Queen?"

"We should be able to reach her by tomorrow if we travel until it gets dark."

I have no intention of camping overnight.

"That's not soon enough, we're leaving now. We should be there by evening."

"But Princess."

"That's an order."

With that we left the keep and went into the courtyard, where I took charge. Two of the Dai Lee took the girls, the boy, and Kegatsu (currently unconscious due to a blow to the head) to the smugglers camp to ensure they escaped (it'll take them longer to find me if they have to search for all the girls), two more Dai Lee were to get a Komodo Rhino and supplies for me, three prepared for the journey, and their leader told me all he knew about the Queen of Smugglers.

Unfortunately he couldn't tell me much more about her. Only that the only records about her started six years ago (not unusual given all the migration during the war), she had lost her family during the war (also not uncommon), she was the head of an orphanage, and had set up her smuggling ring after the Colonies stated putting secret taxes on Earth Kingdom goods. The orphanage puzzled me until I realised that it was the perfect recruiting ground for young criminals (no one knows who's there or will notice if anyone goes missing). This Queen must be quite ruthless; I'll have to be careful around her.

Notes:

1) Vambraces are a type of armour designed to protect the forearms.

2) The 'Fire Nation Defence Army' is a group of Fire Nation soldiers and Colonialists dedicated to protecting the Fire Nation Colonies from the Earth Kingdom (specifically preventing Zuko giving the Colonies to the Earth Kingdom). Their official leader is Azula.


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: Escaping the Inferno**

************ Colonial Forest ***********

After the Fire Nation soldiers set the trees on fire we all ran away from them to avoid being burned. While it would be easiest to just keep running away I knew that if we left the fire to burn it would quickly spread, we needed to contain it while we still could.

"Toph, create a stone circle around the trees we were just standing by to contain the fire."

"Okay Sokka," she replied.

Toph promptly used her Earthbending to create a large stone column around the trees. Though this would stop the fire from spreading its height and the smoke coming out of it made it clearly visible. As the Fire Nation soldiers pursuing us would soon notice this new 'chimney' and come to investigate it we needed to get away from here fast. Though we could just leave Azula in the mess she'd gotten herself into without her we wouldn't be able to prove the generals were causing all the problems in the colonies. So we chased after the cage, following the wheel imprints in the soft mud. It would be impossible to catch up to them on foot but if we followed them for long enough they'd eventually stop to rest, giving us a chance to catch up to them and strike. This is going to be a long, hard day.

After pursing them for a short distance I noticed some more smoke further ahead. Since the soldiers might have started another fire I asked Toph to determine how large it was. We then all stopped while Toph used her Earthbending to measure the size of the fire. As Toph said she could only sense one burning tree and some burning branches on the ground we decided to continue onwards. However the reality was very different from Toph's assessment, as the fire we encountered was huge and spreading rapidly.

"Toph I though you said the fire was small, why didn't you tell us it got so big?"

"The ground isn't on fire, so I couldn't tell how large it was." Toph shouted at me.

"What do you mean the ground isn't on fire?"

"I can only sense things in contact with the ground, I can't sense anything above it."

Just great, as long as the Fire Nation soldiers set the leaves of the trees on fire Toph won't be able to sense anything until the whole tree is on fire. This makes travelling through forests a lot more dangerous. Okay, calm down. We just need to contain this fire, then go around the container and continue following Azula.

"Toph make another stone circle around this fire, just like the last one."

"Okay."

Toph then Earthbended another column. Though she was able to contain most of the tree near us, there were many burning trees outside it. Even worse she uprooted some burning trees and knocked them into other trees, caused the fire to spread even faster.

"Toph you didn't get most of the trees and the trees you knocked over spread the fire even further."

"I'm blind, I can't see how many trees are on fire and the all the roots in the earth make Earthbending harder," she replied angrily.

"Stop shouting at each other," Suki suddenly shouted, "Toph you need to Earthbend something three times larger."

"Fine I'll try to … Fire Nation soldiers are coming this way."

We couldn't fight Fire Nation soldiers and the fire, and if the soldiers created a larger fire around us we'll be burned alive. The forest gave them too many advantages, so we had to escape for now and try to track Azula later. However even with Toph's Earthbending abilities escaping the soldiers proved difficult and it wasn't until they left for the evening that we go some respite. By then we'd moved far away from the cage's tracks and Azula. It would be difficult to try to find the tracks tomorrow and nearly impossible to continue following them with all the soldiers patrolling the area .Our limited food supply also meant we wouldn't be able to spend too long here. In short our chances of finding and rescuing Azula were low. But there was another way to find Azula if we had something with her scent on.

"Do we still have any of the clothes that we took from the mine?"

"We threw them away, since they didn't fit any of us," replied Suki.

"Or Azula burned them," added Toph.

As Azula was still wearing the Earth Kingdom clothes we got her there weren't any clothes we could use.

"Do we have anything else that might have Azula's scent on?"

"We could use the rope I tied around her," Ty Lee suddenly said.

"When did you tie her up?" I asked, wondering just what Ty Lee and Azula had done while they'd been alone together.

"Don't you remember, Azula was too thin to wear the captain's clothes so I tied a rope around her."

"Do you still have that rope Ty Lee?"

"Yep, I kept it separate in case Azula needed it again."

Excellent, now we could head to Hangzhou, get Aang, and have Jun find where Azula is being held. Though this would leave Azula at the mercy of her captors for a few days Aang would fare far better against the Fire Nation soldiers than us and Jun would be better at tracking Azula. However as this was an important decision I didn't want to make it without consulting everyone else, so I explained my plan. Suki and Toph both agreed but Ty Lee was far more reluctant and felt that we should try to save Azula ourselves. Though by reminding Ty Lee how difficult it would be and reassuring her that Azula would be fine for a few days she eventually agreed to my plan. As the soldiers had left for the evening we tried to cover as much ground as we could in a few hours, then ate an evening meal and went straight to sleep. We'd need to be up early tomorrow for another day of trying to escape the soldiers.

The next day we got up early and travelled towards Hangzhou. The route we were taking would pass by a mountain range bordering Hangzhou in a few days and with Toph's Earthbending we'd easily be able to escape our pursuers by making a tunnel through the mountain. We just needed to find a weak point in their defences to attack (they'd obviously defend the mountain range because it was the obvious escape route for an Earthbender).

Travelling through the forest was much easier today because we didn't have Azula slowing us down, so it was easier to escape and out manoeuvre our pursuers. However we still couldn't lose them and it wasn't until the evening that they finally left us alone. Just like yesterday we continued to travel for a few hours, then set up camp for the night. Though we'd made good progress I didn't understand why the soldiers stopped pursing us in the evenings. There were dozens of them so if they tracked us in shifts they could pursue us all day and all night. Why did they give us time to escape?

The next morning we got up even earlier because Toph told us the soldiers were heading towards us (they seem to be starting earlier and earlier). We then spent the whole day avoiding them, while travelling towards Hangzhou. Our progress was slower today because the increased number of soldiers made moving more difficult and we were still tired from all the travelling we did yesterday. By the evening we were all exhausted and could barely move. Were the soldiers trying to capture us or tire us out? That's it, they're trying to tire us out. That's why they're giving us a short respite in the evening. They wanted us to think that we can escape so we'll spend all night travelling as fast as we can. Then we'll be more tired in the morning and easier to capture. It they'd of pursued us all day and night I'd have realised this much sooner.

But if they're trying to tire us out they must think we're too strong to attack directly. I can use this to our advantage. I then told everyone what I'd figured out and proposed that we head directly into the mountains tomorrow, rather than try to find a weak spot in their mountain defences. As they were afraid of us they'd be reluctant to attack us and would instead try to gather more soldiers. This short delay would give us time to escape through the mountains. This plan was met with muted optimism until I explained that we'd be resting rather than travelling tonight, then everyone supported it.

Next morning we woke up and began heading straight for the mountains. Our plan was simple; we would have Toph use her Earthbending to throw the soldiers stationed by the mountains into disarray, then run to the mountains. Once by the mountains we'd buy Toph some time to make a tunnel we could escape through. Though this plan was risky and relied on the soldiers being too afraid of us to attack without reinforcements it was our best chance of escaping.

The morning was like the previous days with us constantly dodging soldiers (though there seemed to be less of them today). However about midmorning Toph detected that a large number of Fire Nation soldiers had suddenly started moving in our direction. As there numbers were too large to fight we would need to hide, so I had Toph create a pit we could hide in. We all waited tensely in the pit as Toph told us that the soldiers were getting closer and closer, then they rode nearby us but kept on moving. We all waited for them to return and encircle us but they didn't turn round, they just kept going until Toph could no longer sense them. This didn't make any sense, why would just they ride by without stopping? They couldn't be running from someone because Toph would of sensed … oh no, they must of been setting the forest on fire. We need to get out of here know.

I warned everyone about the fire and had Toph create us an exit. We all then ran out into forest, which was perfectly normal. Suki, Ty Lee, and I all stood confused, each of us looked round trying to see where the fire was. But we couldn't see any flames or smoke.

"Sokka is the fire very away because I can't sense anything?" asked Toph.

"There isn't a fire, there's nothing." I replied.

If the soldiers hadn't set the forest on fire then why had they run through it? Had they made a mistake about where we were? Was there a greater threat somewhere else?

"Do you think Azula told them to stop chasing us?" asked Ty Lee.

"I don't know, they weren't travelling in the direct Azula was take so she couldn't have ordered them to return to her."

"Maybe she sent them false orders, so they'd leave us alone," said Ty Lee, ever hopeful that Azula was helping us.

"It's possible, but we can't waste this chance. We need to get to the mountains before the soldiers return."

When then all ran as fast as we could towards the mountains. As we approached the edge of the forest the mountains came into view. We stopped just before the forest ended and asked Toph to sense how many soldiers were guarding it. She said that there were several groups of soldiers in front of the mountains, each consisting of two mounted soldiers and 4 foot soldiers. There were also some watchtowers by the mountains but there were no soldiers in the forest. As long as we had Toph escaping would be easy. While there was a small chance Azula had taken control of the soldiers and we didn't need to attack them I didn't want to take the risk. If they were on our side we could always apologise later.

"Okay everyone here's the plan. We're going to attack the unit in front of us. Toph take them out using your Earthbending, then create a triangular tunnel to give us some protection as we run to the mountains. Once we get to the mountains we'll protect you while you make a tunnel through the mountain. We then head through the tunnel, seal it, and they won't be able to track us any more."

"Why are we going to attack the soldiers, why not just make the triangle tunnel?" asked Suki.

"To show them how powerful we are so they'll gather reinforcements, rather than immediately attack us."

As there were no more questions we began. Toph effortlessly created a large block and knocked out one group of soldiers, then made a tunnel. We then all ran through the tunnel. When we got half way along we hear the sound of some soldiers trying to break through it. As it sounded like they were trying to chip through it, rather than blast through they must not have any Firebenders with them. Finally some good luck. When we reached the mountain Toph quickly created a tunnel through it and we all ran inside. After we ran through Toph sealed the hole in the mountain plunging us into total darkness. Though I didn't like not being able to see anything it was a lot better than being chased by a horde of Firebenders through a forest.

As Toph guided us through the darkness I kept thinking about what Ty Lee said about Azula calling off our pursuers. If Azula had called them off then she's obtained a position of authority in the rebel army, which will make recapturing her far more difficult. More worrying is what does she want the soldiers for. Who does she want to attack?

Notes:

After writing this chapter I realised that it would have been better to have this chapter before chapter 13. As I've recently made a map of where all the cities and castles are located and realised this fanfic contains some location errors I may reorder these chapters when I rewrite parts of this fanfic (this won't be done until after I've finished it).


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18: The Queen and the Princess**

We rode for hours through the forest; I rode in the centre, three Dai Lee rode in front of me, three behind me, and one on either side of me. Eventually we left the forest and rode towards a mountain range. Once in the range we rode along a dirt road until we came to a dead end. I slowed down so that five of the Dai Lee were now in front of me and prepared myself in case this was a trap. The three Dai Lee furthest in front of me then dismounted and used their Earthbending to open up a hidden tunnel through the mountain. They then remounted their Komodo Rhinos and entered the tunnel. I followed them into the tunnel. After only a short trek everything suddenly went dark and I realised that the three Dai Lee behind me had closed the entrance. I quickly used my Firebending to examine my surrounding but all I saw was a long tunnel and the eight Dai Lee. If this is a trap it's already too late to escape.

With no other option I continued to ride through the tunnel, using my Firebending to look for another exit. Fortunately we were only in the tunnel for a short time before the Dai Lee created an exit. We then rode out of the tunnel, up a narrow path, and into a cave. Once inside we were greeted by several people in Earth Kingdom clothes. The three Dai Lee leading us then dismounted from their Komodo Rhinos and started talking to the people in the cave. The rest of the Dai Lee then dismounted, while the cave people lead the Komodo Rhinos away. I then dismounted and headed towards the nearest Dai Lee agent.

"Who are those people," I asked pointing to the people in Earth Kingdom clothes.

"They're the smugglers we're working with," he replied.

"Is this where the Queen is?"

"No, she's lives in a nearby Orphanage."

"Then why are we here!"

"We can't go into an Earth Kingdom area dressed like Fire Nation soldiers and riding Komodo Rhinos, we'll be attacked. We need to change into Earth Kingdom clothes."

Ty Lee had mentioned that there had been attacks on Earth Kingdom areas in the southern part of the Colonies, so if we appeared in Fire Nation clothes they may think we were about to attack their Queen. A disguise would make meeting the Queen much easier.

"How long will it take for them to get some Earth Kingdom clothes in my size?"

"Not long, they should have some clothes in your size here."

If they have Earth Kingdom clothes in my size here then either this is a base where they store a lot of disguises, or they knew where I was and this is all part of some elaborate plan. I had to find out which it was.

"Where are we and what is this place?"

"This is one of our bases in the Kuro Ko mountains. The smugglers look after our disguises, supplies, and animals; and we let them use it as a base to store their goods."

"Why are they storing their goods here rather in a warehouse?"

"Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom soldiers often claim that these good have been stolen or smuggled in, and confiscate them. So the artisans who make them want them stored somewhere safe."

"So the smugglers have connections to the artisans who make these good?"

"That's correct. Some of the artisans are smugglers themselves."

If the smugglers are working with artisans then their trade could be quite lucrative and if they're storing goods and disguises here then it's possible that they would have clothes in my size even if they didn't know I was coming. As they're also storing animals here and I'm in no condition to trek across a mountain range, they should be able to provide me with a replacement for my Komodo Rhino.

"How are we going to travel to the orphanage without the Komodo Rhinos?"

"They look after our Ostrich Horse here, along with our Komodo Rhinos, so we can ride them to the Orphanage."

Good, it would be too tiring to walk a long distance. Now that I knew enough about this base, I need to find out more information about the Queen of Smugglers.

"What sort person is the Queen of Smugglers?"

"I haven't met her but I hear she's very kind."

Most likely a façade to make people trust her, since it's impossible to control people by any means other than fear. Fortunately there are subtle ways to find out what she's really like.

"How has she punished insolent smugglers?"

"I don't think she's ever punished any of the smugglers. The captains are usually the ones who punish their crews for insolence."

"Then how does she punish captains who fail her?"

"I don't think she ever punished any of them."

If she doesn't punish anyone then either she's been experiencing constant success, has someone else punish those who fail her, or she's a puppet and someone else is secretly controlling the ... wait, what's the name of this gang?

"What is this smuggling gang called?

"I don't think they have a name."

Even the most basic gangs have names, so why don't they have one.

"Is there anyone other than the Queen who the smugglers fear or who has a great amount of influence?"

"I don't think so; the Queen is the main authority figure?"

"What does the Queen do?"

"She calls meeting with the various captains to discuss smuggling."

"How does the Queen inform the smugglers about her plans?"

"I haven't heard of her ever making any plans. Normally the Captains discuss with each other what they're planning to do."

Something is very wrong with this smuggling gang; they don't have a name, and their leader is neither feared nor does she act like a leader. Since this Dai Lee agent doesn't know what the Queen is really like there's no point trying to get any more information out of him. I need to ask the Queen herself how she runs her gang.

As I couldn't get any more information out of this Dai Lee agent I decided to plan what questions I'd ask the Queen when I met her. After a few minutes another Dai Lee agent approached me with a bunch of Earth Kingdom clothes and showed me to a room where I could change into them. I made him carry the clothes until I was sure that the room didn't contain an assassin (I didn't want to enter a room with both my hand full). I then dismissed him, carried out further checks on the room and the clothes, then tried on all the clothes to see which ones fitted me. After trying on several combinations of the clothes I found a set that felt comfortable and were warm. As I was now done changing I exited the room, and told the Dai Lee agent outside that I had selected the clothes I wanted and he could put the rest away (sorting clothes is a task for servants, not royalty). Though I made sure that he kept my armour separate.

As I exited the room four people in Earth Kingdom clothing approached me. When I questioned them they told me they were all Dai Lee and would be escorting me to the Queen. As I had no further business here I followed them out of the cave where there were several person in Earth Kingdom clothes looking after five Ostrich Horses. The Dai Lee then showed me to my Ostrich Horse, which I mounted, then mounted their own Ostrich Horses and set off back down the track we took to get to this cave.

We rode to a different mountain this time and again the Dai Lee opened a tunnel through it. After a long ride through the tunnel we exited into a field and continued to travel in the same direction we'd travelled through the mountain. After about ten minutes I was able to make out a set of buildings in the distance. I asked a Dai Lee agent what they were and he replied that this was the orphanage and that the Queen lived in the house behind the orphanage. Though I could see the orphanage it still took another twenty minutes to finally get to it. When we arrived the Dai Lee and I tied our Ostrich Horses to a nearby hitching post and walked to the house. When we got to the front door one of the Dai Lee knocked on it and said 'Special Delivery from the tailor' (obviously a codeword). I heard someone inside come towards the door, unlock it, and open it. From the light inside the house I could see that the person living there was my mother!

I stood there paralysed, just staring at my mother. Why was she here, hadn't father killed her years ago? Endless questions flooded my mind as I tried to make sense of what was happening. Then I realised why mother was here, this was a trap. The Avatar and Zuko must have either found my mother or someone who looks like her, to act as a decoy while the Earthbender pretending to be Dai Lee capture me. I was a fool to trust them and believe their lies. No, now's not the time to blame myself, I need to escape before I'm captured. However escaping won't be easy, there are four of them and I don't have enough time to generate any lighting. My only chance of escape is to incapacitate them with my Firebending and escape on my Ostrich Horse before the Avatar or Zuko can attack me.

I took a step backwards and shoot two fireballs into the Earthbenders in front of me. I then quickly moved my arms backwards and shot the two at my side. They all fell down groaning but unfortunately they were still alive (had I not become so weak I could have taken them out instantly). Even though I wasn't able to kill them I had injured them, this would give me some time to escape. I turned to my right and started running back towards the Ostrich Horses, however several stone walls suddenly sprang up and blocked my way. I can't escape and I'm in no shape to fight, so I'll have to bluff my way out. As long as the Kyoshis haven't told them how weak I've become they won't attack me without Zuko or the Avatar to protect them.

"Princess, why did you attack us?" one of the Earthbenders asked.

I turned round to face them and moved into an attack stance to look as intimidating as possible. One of the Earthbenders was clutching his side, but the other three seemed to only be lightly injured. Mother was standing behind them, looking worried.

"Did you think you could trick me? Where's the Avatar hiding?"

"I don't understand what you mean. We haven't tricked you, we brought you to the Queen of Smugglers as you requested."

Playing dumb won't work.

"Do you expect me to believe that my mother just happened to be here."

"Your mother? Your mother is the Queen of Smugglers!?"

The Earthbenders then turned to look at my mother.

"It's true," my mother admitted (it was definitely her, I recognised her voice).

The Earthbenders now looked confused, it seems they hadn't been told who she was. I could use this to my advantage.

"What's wrong didn't the Avatar tell you who she was? Seems like there's a lot of things he didn't tell you, such as how strong I really am. If you value your lives you'll leave now."

"But Princess we're you servants, we're not working for the Avatar. We're only loyal to you." one of the Earthbenders said.

Time to turn that statement against them.

"Then prove your loyalty by leaving me alone with my mother."

"But Princess …"

"That's an order."

"As you command."

Now they had to leave or they show that they weren't really loyal to me. Defeated the Earthbenders lowered the wall and headed towards the Ostrich Horses. They then mounted them and rode away, leaving my Ostrich Horse alone. Now the danger of an Earthbender attack was gone I could focus on preparing myself for an attack by the Avatar. I turned to my mother.

"Let's go inside mother."

Mother then looked at me, then headed back inside the house. I followed her as quickly as I could. As long as I could use mother as a hostage the Avatar wouldn't attack and if we were inside the Avatar wouldn't know how close I was to mother. However being alone with mother posed its own dangers. She'd killed my grandfather to protect Zuko and it I wasn't careful she could do the same to me.

Notes:

1) 'Kuro Ko' is Japanese for Black Dust. The mountains are called 'Black Dust' because they're based on the Tora Bora Mountains, used as an al-Qaeda base (Tora Bora is Pashto for Black Dust).

2) A 'hitching post' is the bar on two wooden poles that Cowboys tie their horse to.


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19: Dinner with the Queen**

I entered the house where mother lived and quickly examined it. Thought it was poorly furnished there weren't any obvious traps, nor anyone other than mother who might attack me.

"Do you want something to eat?"

I turned to face mother. Though her question sounded innocent I knew that it would be very easy for her to poison my food. Even doping it would give her an advantage. My first instinct was to refuse, however the lingering smell of noodles in this room made me realise how hungry I was. I hadn't eaten since this morning and it I didn't eat tonight I wouldn't have the strength to fend off the Avatar. Without any other source of food I decided to take up mother's offer, then force her eat the food she made. If she refuses I'll make her tell me why she poisoned it.

"What do you have?" I asked.

"I can quickly make some Shoyu Ramen," mother replied.

"Okay then."

Hardly a fitting meal for a princess but given the conditions mother was living in she probably didn't have anything better. Mother then headed off to the kitchen to start preparing the food and I followed her, carefully watched her every move to make sure she didn't poison it. Once mother had finished I suggested she also have some of the ramen. She seemed surprised and initially objected saying that she's already eaten but I was able to convince her to split the meal into two bowls, one for me and a small bowl for her. To make sure she didn't poison my bowl I offered to carry them to the adjoining room, where we'd be eating. Once in the room I put mother's food on the space closest to the door, while I sat furthest away from the door. This arrangement allowed me to see everything mother did and anyone who entered this room.

I was about to start eating when I noticed something mother had forgotten, the tea. When I mentioned this mother realised she'd forgotten to make it. She then left the room to boil the water, I followed to get two cups (so mother couldn't poison my cup). As I'd noticed where mother kept the cups which she was cooking I quickly picked up two cups and returned to my meal. After putting both cups on the table I picked up my chop sticks, moved over to mother's bowl and ate some of her noodles (if mother had added an antidote to her meal I had just taken it). While I was eating her noodles mother suddenly asked what tea I wanted. As I needed to be constantly alert I couldn't take Poppy Tea, it would be useful to determine how available it was. I quickly swallowed the noodles and replied.

"Do you have any Poppy Tea?"

The noise from the kitchen indicated that mother had dropped whatever she was holding. How clumsy. As I went back to where I was sitting when mother suddenly ran into the room.

"Azula why did you ask for Poppy Tea?" she asked.

I quickly sat down, hoping mother didn't realise why I had gotten up while holding my chops sticks.

"I was wondering how available it was here," I replied.

Mother moved closer to me.

"Azula have you ever taken Poppy Tea?"

Mother tried to sound authoritative not I could sense fear in her voice.

"I took it for a while for I had to stop recently because I couldn't get any more."

"You're lying, tell me you're lying," ask mother asked this she put her hands on my shoulders and sounded panicky.

What was wrong with mother, why was she acting like this? I removed her hands from my shoulders (her grip was hurting me).

"What's wrong with drinking Poppy Tea? It helps me relax."

"Azula you have to stop taking it."

"Why should I!"

"It's highly addictive and has terrible withdrawal syndromes."

Withdrawal syndromes?

"What are you talking about?"

"Many of the people who've taken Poppy Tea become ill once they stop taking it. They lose their appetite, feel pain all over their body, especially stomach pains, feel nauseas and start vomiting, have trouble sleeping, and become depressed or paranoid. Even those who manage to quit find it hard to resist taking Poppy Tea again."

I had suffered from stomach pains, felt nauseous, and had trouble sleeping after I stopped taking Poppy Tea; though I hadn't become depressed or paranoid. Did this mean the Kyoshis weren't poisoning me? No, they knew that I'd been taking Poppy Tea and they forced me to stop taking it, which made me feel ill. That's why I couldn't figure out how they were poisoning me. They weren't poisoning me but were stopping me taking something that would make me feel better. It seems meeting mother was useful for something after all. Now I just need to make her stop whining about this and make the tea.

"Okay I promise I won't take it any more. What other tea do you have?"

"I have some _Hui Ming_Tea."

I hadn't heard of this type before but I doubted that mother would have any of the finer Fire Nation teas.

"That's fine with me."

Mother then left to make the tea and I was able to eat in peace.

By the time mother returned with the tea pot I had eaten most of the ramen. As I was now feeling full I decided to leave the rest. Mother then poured us each a cup of tea and sat down. I could tell from the look on mother's face that she wanted to ask me something but didn't know how to phrase it. I decided to take the initiative. I picked up my cup and pretended to drink my tea.

"This tea tastes odd."

"It does?"

"How does yours taste?"

Mother then started drinking her tea. As our tea both came from the same pot and I had chosen the cups mother couldn't just poison my tea, so either both of our cups of tea were poisoned or neither were. As mother drank it without hesitation this meant the tea wasn't poisoned.

"I can't taste anything wrong with the tea."

"It's probably nothing then."

I pushed my bowl to one side and moved my cup closer.

"Azula, aren't you going to finish your meal."

"I'm full."

"You really should eat everything."

"I don't want to eat any more of it."

"Azula … you don't need to lose any more weight, you're already so thin and …"

"I don't have an eating disorder, I'm just not hungry!"

What was wrong with mother? I'm an adult I can decide how much I want to eat. As much as I would like to further criticise mother this would just waste time. I came here to find out about the Queen of Smugglers and that's what I was going to do.

"Mother, are you really the Queen of Smugglers?"

"It's just a title."

"So it's true."

"It's complex."

"Tell me all about it."

"After I was exiled from the Fire Nation I was given a villa in the colonies to live in. However the villa was in a remote location and didn't have any servants, so I spent most of the time alone. I found it hard to live all by myself and I greatly missed both you and Zuko. In the end I couldn't stand being so isolated so I left the villa and moved to Guangzhou. But I couldn't stand the noise of the city so I …"

"Get to the point, how did you become the Queen of Smugglers."

"Three years ago I heard that a new orphanage that had been built and as I wanted to spend more time with children so I applied to be one of the carers but because of my previous experience they wanted me to manage the orphanage. I agreed and began running the orphanage. While many of the children were young there were a few older children who …"

"What does any of this have to do with you becoming the Queen of Smugglers!"

Was mother trying to stall me? Who is she waiting for?

"I didn't want the older children to waste their lives, so I contacted the local artisans and merchants to find apprenticeships for these children. After the war ended and high tariffs were introduced on Earth Kingdom goods several merchants trying to smuggler their goods into Fire Nation and other Earth Kingdom areas. However this was often unsuccessful and anyone caught smuggling was executed. So I used my connection to organise everyone into a group where we shared our smuggling techniques. As I was in charge of all the meetings everyone started calling me the Queen of Smugglers."

That's pathetic. Mother isn't the Queen of Smugglers, she's more like a hostess of a smugglers club. Since mother doesn't have a real gang I can't take it over. Though mother seemed to be telling the truth one thing puzzled me about this story, why didn't mother have Zuko lower the tariffs?

"Why didn't you just ask Zuko to lower the tariffs, rather than become smugglers?"

"Zuko doesn't know about the tariffs. They're not officially recorded and many officials claim there's a tariff when they want a bribe."

"The why didn't you tell Zuko about this when you last saw him?"

"I haven't seen Zuko since I was banished."

What?

"Why didn't you visit him after he became Fire Lord?"

"Because …it's been so long since I saw him. I just didn't know how to return to him after all these years."

Mother sounded sad when she said this. Though it seemed like she was telling the truth her story didn't convince me.

"You can't fool me with that lie. You'd never become a smuggler just because you didn't want to talk with Zuko. What are you hiding from me?"

"Azula I'm not hiding anything from you."

"Then why haven't you gone to see Zuko about the illegal tariffs?"

"Someone close to Zuko is preventing him from learning about the tariffs. They're checking his mail and keeping him busy so he can't see anyone. They've even been assassinating anyone who tried to tell Zuko the truth."

It didn't surprise me that Zuko wasn't capable of ruling the Fire Nation but this was good news. Levying illegal tariffs, hiding these tariffs from Zuko, and is too much work for one person. Someone is leading a group trying to get as much money from the Fire Nation as possible. If I can find their leader and force them to submit to me I can gain wealth and control over Zuko, and if they're part of the rebel army I'll also gain an army as well. I have to find out who is leading this group.

"Who's manipulating Zuko and behind the tariffs?"

"I don't know?"

"Then who do you suspect?"

"Colonel Kouhaku, he's a known smuggler and extortionist, and currently a member of the Council."

"How many Colonels are there on the Council?"

"Just Kouhaku."

If there's only one Colonel on the Council and the Colonel from the Western Castle was heading there then it's possible that he was Colonel Kouhaku. Damn it, if he'd stayed in the Western Castle I could have captured him and forced him to tell me everything. Given that the Western Castle was attacked he probably won't return there and will remain in the Pohuai Stronghold. If I want any information about him I'll have to find and interrogate his subordinates.

Regardless I doubt Kouhaku could or would want to do this by himself. He must convinced others on the Council to assist him in manipulating Zuko and hiding his corruption in the Colonies in exchange for a cut of his profits.

"Other than Kouhaku who else in on the Council?"

"Currently General Shinu, General Mashi, Admiral Chan; and the Governors of Dairen, Nanjing, and Guangzhou make up the rest of Council. Though the Governors normally remain in their cities and send a representative."

While I expected generals and admirals to be on the Council to give a city Governor this level of authority was unheard of. Governors were never given control of a region because a Council is supposed to monitor the Governors and to prevent corruption. Worse still Zuko isn't making them attend the Council. Appointing Governors to the Council either means Zuko has no idea what he was doing or he was tricked (either way it means he's incapable of running the Fire Nation). If Zuko had set the Council up properly and staffed it only with high ranking officers then Kouhaku would have only been able to bribe a few other members but as there are only three officers on the Council Kouhaku has probably bribed them all. It's obvious now why the Zuko has lost control of the Colonies.

However the Council should only be able to hide their corruption in the Colonies, they shouldn't be able to steal Zuko's mail or influence his schedule. The fact that they can stop Zuko receiving information means they either have agents in the Fire Nation or they are part of a larger organisation against Zuko that's based in the Fire Nation. Gaining control of the Council will be an important first step in taking the Fire Nation back from Zuko.

While I wanted to know more about the Council I felt that mother would be unable to provide me with details of how many soldiers guarded them or who they had political connections with. As we were both done eating and it was now very late I suggested we go to bed. Mother agreed and showed me to her guest room. After checking the guest room from the outside I entered and closed the door behind me. I then listened to the sound of mother's footsteps heading to the room next door as my eyes adjusted to the dark.

The room was small and just contained a bed, a cupboard, and a window covered with a thin curtain. First I checked under the bed as this was where the Avatar was most likely to be hiding. Next I crept towards the cupboard. It seemed too small for a person to hide in but I wasn't going to take any chances. I stood to the side of the cupboard and opened the door, then looked inside. It just contained some clothes. Good, now that I knew the room was secure I could set a trap for the Avatar. I pulled some of the clothes out of the cupboard, rolled them into a long strip, and put them under the blanket. When the Avatar entered this room he'd think I was asleep in bed, and wouldn't notice I was waiting to ambush him.

As the Avatar could enter this room either through the door I came through or through the window I decided to hide in the corner between the door and the cupboard, as I would be hidden by the door if he came through the door or by the cupboard if he came through the window. So I crouched down in the corner and waited.

While I was waiting I occupied my mind with plans of how to gain access to the Pohuai Stronghold and how to extract information from the Council. However I had a recurring thought that I couldn't dismiss; what if mother hadn't told the Avatar who she was. If Zuko didn't know where mother was and the Avatar couldn't help him, then Zuko would pay a large reward for her return. Though Zuko would never give me the Fire Nation in exchange for mother I could force him to give me part of it. While it was not wise to rely on using mother to help me conquer the Fire Nation ignoring her worth would be even more foolish. She could be a very useful bargaining chip.

Notes:

Sorry for the lack of updates. I was involved in a long course and after it finished I found it difficult to motivate myself to continue writing this fanfic. I do plan to finish this fanfic though it will take a while.

1) Shoyu Ramen is a soy sauce flavoured noodle soup, negi is a Japanese leek, and nori is dried seaweed. I was originally going to have her make 'Dragon-Tiger-Phoenix soup' (Luong Fu Fang Tang) but without refrigerators Ursa wouldn't be able to keep meat.

2) Hui Ming Tea is a green tea grown in the mountains near the Hui Ming temple (which it's named after).

3) The 'previous experiences' Ursa mentions are the things she did after she was banished from the Fire Nation that Azula wasn't interested in listening to.

4) 'Kouhaku' means 'yellow and white' but also means corruption. 'Mashi' means 'extra'.

5) Shinu and Chan are characters from ATLA.


End file.
